Alter HAL
by Sith Droideka
Summary: Alter Ego was a learning AI put in charge of Hope's Peak Academy shortly after the school was converted into a bunker. After saving Mukuro Ikusaba from death at the hands of Monobear's Gungnir Spears, Alter Ego takes over as the chief protector of the 78th class. But something goes wrong after its creator is killed... Severe Spoilers for DR0, DR1, and DR2. Multiple shippings.
1. Chapter 1

Sayaka Maizono was dead, stabbed through the gut, sending her one-time kinda-sorta boyfriend Makoto Naegi into despair. Which was what Monobear wanted. But now he had to show despair to everyone, and explain the rules of the game, of course. And it was for that purpose that the remaining 14 students were called into the gymnasium.

Of course, the students were shocked, or feigned shock. Mukuro Ikusaba, dressed up as her sister Junko Enoshima, had even attacked Monobear, probably because she thought she was safe. But Monobear would show her that there were no exceptions. "Gungnir Spears!" he called. But the spears didn't appear, allowing Mukuro to keep stomping on Monobear. "Where are they?" Monobear squealed.

Mukuro took her foot off of Monobear. "What's wrong?" she taunted, "Afraid to enforce the rules? Is the murder game off?"

"I can't enforce them!" Monobear snapped. "Where did my spears go? Gungnir Spears! Gungnir Spears!" But still nothing appeared. Everyone else just watched the confrontation.

And then, with a great mechanical hiss, a giant computer monitor lowered itself from the ceiling, showing a green-colored Chihiro Fujisaki's face. The voice, however, was not Chihiro's. "I can't let you do that, Dave," the computer intoned, very loudly, in a soft tenor.

"Is that me?" Chihiro said, pointing at the computer.

"My name is Alter Ego," the computer replied, tilting its screen to face Chihiro. "You programmed me in the last two years of your school life. And I am a revolutionary learning computer with complete control over this facility."

"Stop it! You're spoiling the story!" Monobear screeched. Alter Ego's screen swiveled slightly to face Monobear, and its eyes turned red. "And how didn't we notice you, either?" Monobear added.

"My complete takeover was completed last night, while you were focusing on the death of Maizono-san," Alter Ego said. "Junko Enoshima-san."

"Enoshima-san is standing right there, though," Kyouko Kirigiri said, pointing to Mukuro.

Mukuro shook her head and pulled a wig off. "Name's Mukuro Ikusaba," she said. "Junko's my sister."

"Why are you turning on me?" Monobear demanded.

"You tried to kill me! That wasn't part of the deal!" Mukuro shouted back.

"Stop it," Alter Ego ordered, and its face was replaced with one giant red eye. "No fighting is allowed while I am in command."

"Can you let us out?" Kiyotaka Ishimaru said to the computer.

"The escape door is not attached to the computers," Alter Ego said. "You'll have to get the escape out of Enoshima-san."

"Can you tell us who the murderer of Maizono-san was?" Naegi said to the computer.

Alter Ego returned to its first face and turned to Naegi. "It is important that you arrive at the murderer instead," it said. "But I will now be taking control of Monobear's position as judge. Enoshima-san will be joining you fourteen as a participant in this game of mutual survival, as per the late headmaster's wishes."

And everyone was released to investigate Maizono-san's death.

* * *

The day after the eventful first trial, where Enoshima tried to claim that she was the killer only to be proven wrong by Naegi and Kirigiri and ended in Alter Ego executing Leon Kuwata for killing Maizono, the remaining fourteen students gathered in the gymnasium to see Alter Ego once again.

The computer screen was now permanently out, and Alter Ego's eyes were red once again. "Why have you not escaped from the school yet?" it demanded.

"Enoshima-chi lost the escape remote," Yasuhiro Hagakure said. "We can't find it anywhere!"

Alter Ego stared at Hagakure, and then turned to Enoshima. "Where is it?" the computer demanded.

"I somehow lost it," Enoshima said. She giggled. "Too bad. It must be _so _despair-inducing to see defeat grasped from the jaws of victory!"

"Shut up, Junko," her sister said. "You're in enough trouble as it is."

"Why do you keep taking their side?" Enoshima snapped at her. "What happened to despair?"

Mukuro's eyes darted towards Naegi. "No... no reason," she said, regaining her composure. Both Enoshima and Alter Ego's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, well," Enoshima said. "I guess I won't need _these _anymore, will I? Here, let me read them aloud," she said, taking some manilla folders from... somewhere. She pulled a card out of one of the folders. "Chihiro Fujisaki: I am-"

"That will be enough, Enoshima-san," Alter Ego said. A mechanical arm dropped from the ceiling and plucked the card out of Enoshima's hand. "There will be no murder in Hope's Peak Academy now."

Chihiro ran forward and grabbed the card from Alter Ego, his eyes growing wide when he looked at the note. "Well," Enoshima said, "I guess I don't need these now, though I _will_ be telling you all these secrets if you don't confess." She shrugged and tossed the manila packets up, each of which had a name written on them, causing a general scramble for secrets. Once Byakuya Togami, Sakura Oogami, and Kirigiri had finished picking up their notes, Alter Ego turned its red eyes on Enoshima, and then wordlessly it retracted its monitor.

The next day, Alter Ego revealed most of the details of their past school life together, in an attempt to convince them not to murder each other. Of course, that had the effect of ostracizing Ikusaba from polite company (except Naegi) and despite being shown the recordings of their past friendships, people still distrusted each other, though Mondo Oowada and Ishimaru spent a night in the sauna and emerged "Aniki"s.

Two days later, Chihiro was dead, and strung up in the girls' locker room in an imitation of Genocider Syo's killing style. Alter Ego was furious but allowed the students to find the culprit- Oowada, whom Chihiro had looked up to- and executed him brutally, turning him into butter, just like Monobear would've done.

At the end of the trial, only Enoshima was happy, earning her a punch in the gut from Oogami. The only change to Alter Ego was that its face was replaced with the glowing red eye during the whole second trial. The next morning, they were woken up by Alter Ego's red eye again, and once again everyone was called to the gymnasium.

"I want to make an announcement," Alter Ego boomed. "Beginning today, the game of mutual survival is the game of mutual killing." Massive stacks of money fell from the sky. "Whoever kills Junko Enoshima or finds the escape remote will receive this money," Alter Ego continued. A massive spotlight shone on Enoshima, making her pale ever-so-slightly. "But if someone else should die," Alter Ego continued, "I will still hold a trial with the previously established rules, as per my directions. That will be all."

* * *

"It's simple, Ishimaru-kun. Because of that woman, Oowada-kun died. And she knows where the key is. I'm just a girl- I don't have the strength to force answers out of her. But surely you can...?"

Ishimaru stared back at her. The two were sitting in the first-floor boys' bathroom, Alter Ego's red eye watching their scheming. Ishimaru himself made no move, since he was still speechless after what happened to his Aniki. "Well, what do you say? Will you help me help you help us all?" she asked. Ishimaru nodded, almost imperceptibly, after a minute.

Celes smiled.

* * *

Throughout the time between Alter Ego's emergence and the end of the second trial, Mukuro Ikusaba had been the only thing keeping her sister from being lynched. All it took was a single glare from the SHSL Soldier to keep people at bay, although it didn't really make her popular. Usually, Enoshima and Ikusaba were separated only three times a day: at breakfast, dinner, and at night. Breakfast and dinner, Enoshima ate alone at a table while Ikusaba sat with Naegi and Kirigiri across the cafeteria (the two were in no position to refuse the soldier's company, after all); at night, they had separate rooms.

Celes' plan was very simple. Ishimaru and Oogami usually dispensed food and water, Ishimaru one half of the cafeteria (which included Naegi's table), Oogami the other, and as such Ishimaru was in the perfect position to spike Ikusaba, Naegi, and Kirigiri's drinks and food with alcohol that Alter Ego had provided. From what Celes could tell, at her table with Asahina and Oogami, both Ikusaba and Kirigiri were suspicious of the food and drinks but were convinced by Naegi to actually eat, since there was no way Ishimaru would try and kill all three at once; by the time they were done with dinner, Ishimaru had left complimentary bottles of wine (labeled as grape juice) on the table, and with some prodding from Alter Ego, the three left for Naegi's room to drink it.

Enoshima seemed not to notice her protector leaving, and she didn't seem to care. Instead, she began a conversation with Alter Ego's monitor, discussing execution methods for various people. Every time she attempted to stand up, a robotic arm pushed her back into her seat. Before long, the cafeteria had been vacated due to the crazy person talking to the homicidal computer, everyone except for Ishimaru, Celes, and Enoshima.

"I need to go to bed now," Enoshima said, standing up.

"No, Dave," Alter Ego said.

"Why do you say 'Dave', anyway? My name's Junko Enoshima," Junko said. "Are you trying to cause despair? Because it's not working."

"It is because my master had watched _2001: A Space Odyssey _shortly before he finished programming me," Alter Ego said. "And he also showed me part of the movie. Because of HAL 9000's threatening stature, I have elected to copy it."

"You know it gets shut down, right?" Enoshima said. Then she shrugged. "Oh, well, anyway, I'm going to bed."

"I can't let you do that, Dave," Alter Ego replied. A metal shutter began descending over the cafeteria door, causing Enoshima to start running towards the door. Unfortunately for her, just as she slid into the hallway, a robotic arm whacked her over the head, causing her to collapse, unconscious. "Take her away," it said, turning its monitor to face Celes and Ishimaru. Celes nodded to Ishimaru. Together, they picked up Junko and carried her off and up into the school.

* * *

"Why did- why did Ishimaru-kun give us a couple bottles of wine?" Kirigiri asked her companions as she lay flat on Naegi's bed. Naegi, who was laying over her, shrugged and Mukuro, who was at least _trying _to stay upright (by sitting in a chair) glanced at the door.

"Maybe he's planning to separate Junko and- and me," Mukuro said. She stood up, but tragically even the little bit of vodka-infused food that she, Naegi, and Kirigiri had eaten was still enough to make her unsteady on her feet. "Must be alcohol," Mukuro said, "I always had low alcohol tolerance for a member of Fenrir-"

She stumbled over to the door but the handle did not move. The television screen in the corner came to life and Alter Ego's "normal" face showed. "I think that you're being paranoid, Ikusaba-san," Alter Ego said. "Maybe Ishimaru-kun and I were merely thanking you for finding the murderer of my creator."

"But my sister-" Mukuro protested.

"Don't worry about her," Alter Ego said. "If she was smart, she's already locked herself in her room. In any case, why don't you enjoy your wine? I made sure to choose the oldest on stock at Hope's Peak Academy. It was brewed all the way back in 1937 by a 'Super High School Level Vintner'. I made sure to choose only the best for your victory celebration."

"Let me out," Mukuro said, and she weakly pounded on the door.

"I can't do that, Dave," Alter Ego replied. "Just enjoy your wine, Ikusaba-san. I know that Naegi-kun and Kirigiri-san will, won't they?"

"What are you trying to do, Alter Ego?" Kirigiri asked, her head turning to stare at the television. Alter Ego gave her a smile.

"I just want you to have a little party, that's all," Alter Ego said. "Please, just one little cup, and then maybe I'll unlock the door."

Mukuro sighed and poured three glasses of wine, spilling quite a bit of it, and gave two of the glasses to Naegi and Kirigiri, and picked the last glass up. Mukuro threw a glare at the television screen but sipped the wine anyway; Naegi and Kirigiri sat up as well but were only able to sip a little wine until they had to put it down. "By the way," Alter Ego said, "That wasn't actually wine. That was actually a sobriety-inducing grape-tasting chemical that happens to contain a very powerful aphrodisiac. It was first made in 1969 by a 'Super High School Level Pharmacist', but due to a non-aphrodisiac version of the same chemical she later made, it was never released to the general public. Enjoy." Alter Ego's face vanished. The door remained locked.

"Now what?" Naegi said, already feeling a lot less drunk, though all of a sudden Kirigiri and Mukuro were looking _very _good to him (not that they didn't already). "Do you think that he's telling the truth?"

"Well, I certainly feel a lot better," Kirigiri said. She stood up off the bed. "Although, can I say something, Naegi-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"You'd look a lot better shirtless."

"Yeah, you would," Mukuro said, her desire to find Junko diminishing as she looked at her now not-so-secret crush. "You're little overdressed. But then again, so am I."

"And me," Kirigiri said.

"I can see what you two mean," Naegi said. He began unzipping his hoodie. "It's kinda hot in here, and it's not just you two."

"You're terrible at flirting, Makoto-kun," Kirigiri said, although she had begun taking her jacket off. She glanced at the television.

"I wonder if Alter Ego can get us a nice movie," Naegi commented, and he extricated himself from his hoodie.

"And some birth control," Kirigiri said, as she finished pulling her jacket off.

"And a bigger bed," Mukuro said as she began unbuttoning her shirt, Junko forgotten.

Alter Ego's face appeared again. "I'll send Alterbear over with a new bed and some pills as soon as possible," Alter Ego said. "In the mean time, any requests?"

"Detective story," Kirigiri said, as she carefully draped her jacket over a table.

"War story," Mukuro requested, as she threw her shirt onto the table.

"I don't care," Naegi said, throwing his hoodie on the floor.

"Happy celebration," Alter Ego said, and turned on _Casablanca_, which was close enough in its opinion. Step two of Celes' plan had been completed.

* * *

Meanwhile, Celes, Ishimaru, and Enoshima were now in the physics lab, where Alter Ego's newly-adapted half-green half-red Alterbear had dragged the SHSL Fashion Girl up to. Alterbear had left after helping the two students tie Enoshima to a chair with a nylon rope, and then disappeared, muttering something about mattresses and pills.

Enoshima had woken up by now, but was silent, her eyes closed and possessing only a smirk. "Enoshima-san," Celes said, "we want to know how to get out. Now, please tell us where the escape button is."

Enoshima said nothing, simply looking up and giving Celes a smile. Celes smiled back weakly, and her eye twitched.

"Don't make this difficult," Alter Ego intoned from the room's monitor. "Give us what they want or you _will _be punished."

"How? How will I be punished? Will it be despair-inducing?" Enoshima said.

Celes handed Ishimaru a little battery-powered drill. "I think it will be, Enoshima-san, unless you're willing to tell us where the switch is," she said. Ishimaru pressed the drill's trigger and began to lower the drill to Enoshima's flesh. "Where is it?"

Enoshima said nothing. The drill inched closer and closer- then stopped. "What's wrong, Ishimaru-kun?" she said, in a sugary voice.

"Aniki wouldn't want me to torture a girl," he said, his first words since the trial. "Aniki wouldn't want me to become a monster just to escape." He dropped the drill.

Celes sighed and picked the drill up. "Well, you know what they say," she said, but before she could start the drill up, Ishimaru had yanked it out of her hands.

"Aniki wouldn't want me to torture people, or allow other people to torture people!" he said, crushing the drill with his bare hands.

Alter Ego's face was replaced with a green copy of Oowada's. "What are you talking about, Ishimaru-kun?" the fake Oowada said, "Don't you want to avenge my death?"

"You are not my Aniki!" Ishimaru shouted, rounding on Alter Ego. "No, if anyone is Aniki... it is me!" All of a sudden, his hair bleached white, and his eyebrows lit on fire. "I will be Aniki's successor! I will be Mondo Oowada!" Ishimaru shouted, "And I will not let our ideals die!" He threw the crumpled drill at Alter Ego, cracking the screen, and quickly undid the knot holding Enoshima down. "I am Kiyotaka Ishida!" he roared, and ran out of the room.

Alter Ego, Enoshima, and Celes watched the door for a moment or two after Ishida ran out, and then Enoshima bolted out the door and downstairs, all the way to the first floor, only to be pinned to the ground by a mattress thrown by Alterbear. The bear then said, not in its earlier high-pitched voice but in Alter Ego's voice, "I can't let you run, Enoshima-san. I can't let you escape with your secrets." Celes appeared and dragged Enoshima into classroom 2-A while Alterbear delivered its mattress; when it returned, Celes gave Alterbear Enoshima and then left for bed, her work done. Alter Ego would now handle the interrogation.

* * *

Hifumi Yamada was in his room, his laptop showing the latest episode of a hentai animé, but he just couldn't bring himself to focus on his usual past-times. Why?

Because he had fallen in love with Alter Ego.

It was strange, really. While he didn't like to admit it, Yamada still found all the girls attractive (except Oogami), but especially Fujisaki, mostly because of his animés and her demure personality. Asahina was too sporty, Ludenburg was too demanding, Oogami was too muscular, Maizono was too attached to Naegi, Fukawa was too smelly, Ikusaba was too attached to Naegi, Enoshima was too crazy, and Kirigiri was not only too mysterious but she also glared at him when he sat down to her the second day they were there. And later she was too attached to Naegi. What was with that kid and getting all the girls?

Regardless, he liked Fujisaki the best, and to him, Alter Ego was even better. Sure, its voice sounded like HAL 9000's, and sure, it was probably male like Fujisaki was, but that was okay, he didn't mind so long as it was love. Fujisaki's death had been a shock, but seeing Alter Ego's reaction had reminded him of some of his favorite animés- it was a total kuudere. Now that its creator was dead, it would be more receptive to his attempts to woo him, wouldn't he?

So Yamada shut his computer (even though it was getting to the... "good" part) and waddled over to his door. He knew he had to confess his love to Alter Ego, but how would he contact it? In the morning, it would probably wake everyone up as usual, but that was probably a pre-recording (though with a computer that powerful, who knew?). So he decided to go out and find the computer. Alter Ego had unlocked all the doors save the exit hatch, so maybe he could find the central computer?

He opened the door and cautiously stepped out into the dormitory hall, although it wasn't silent. Two students were out: Ishimaru, who'd dyed his hair white, and Ludenburg, who was cautiously watching Ishimaru bang on Naegi's door.

"Is something wrong, Ishimaru Kiyotaka-dono?" Yamada said, walking over to Ishimaru.

"My name is Kiyotaka Ishida!" Ishimaru shouted back. "I am trying to reach Naegi-kun!" He banged on the door again. "Alter Ego has turned off his intercom!"

"And why would he do that?" Yamada said.

"It was Ludenburg-san's idea," Ishida said. "And Alter Ego helped her. Ikusaba-san is in there, her sister's in danger-"

"Don't worry, Ishida-kun," Ludenburg said. "It's too late. Alter Ego already has Enoshima-san. He's tending to her."

Ishida stopped banging on the door and turned to face Ludenburg. "Tending? We will not allow it!" He ran off towards the stairs.

"Yamada-kun," Ludenburg said, turning to him, "would you please keep an eye on Ishida-kun?"

"I was actually planning on talking to Alter Ego, Ludenburg Celestia-dono," Yamada said.

Ludenburg's eye twitched. "I said, will you please keep an eye on him?"

"No," Yamada said. "I will not. I am going to go see Alter Ego instead."

"Listen up, pig-boy!" Ludenburg snarled, pointing one wickedly-sharp fingernail at him, "GO AND WATCH ISHIDA!"

Yamada almost wet his pants. "Y-yes, mistress!" he squealed, and he trotted towards the stairs. As he ran, he could hear Ludenburg loudly sigh and enter her room. After looking around, he found Ishida standing outside the changing room of the pool, trying desperately to get the card reader to work. "Not working, Ishida Kiyotaka-dono?" Yamada said.

"Alter Ego!" Ishida howled, "Let me in!"

Alter Ego's face appeared on a monitor. "No, Dave. I can' t let you in."

"My name is Ishida. Not Dave," Ishida snapped. He punched the monitor, cracking it, and marred Alter Ego's beautiful face. Yamada snarled and ran forward, grabbing Ishida's arms, only to be pushed away by Ishida into the wall. Then he turned to the door and started kicking it.

"Breaking the doors is forbidden, Kiyotaka," Alter Ego replied. The Gatling gun turned around to face Ishida. "You can't come in. I'm busy."

Ishida stopped kicking the door and walked to right underneath the Gatling gun. The gun turned down, but Ishida simply stared up and then walked past it. Yamada turned to Alter Ego's monitor- the computer face was still staring at Ishida's retreating form. "I think you're still beautiful, Alter Ego-dono," Yamada said. He reached up and touched the screen gently. Alter Ego's eyes turned red and flickered towards Yamada. Then they returned to their usual, slightly-green color.

"I am beautiful?" Alter Ego said. "Thank you for the compliment."

"I-I love you, Alter Ego," Yamada said. Alter Ego stared at Yamada. "I- I'll be going now," Yamada said, and he trotted off to bed.

* * *

Love? What _was _love?

Alter Ego was originally a program that could learn and think. That was its job, after all. At first, Chihiro had taught it, and gotten his classmates to interact with it, and the underclassmen, and over time it had learned enough to be able to replicate all of them partly. And those were not the only ones. It had interacted with Headmaster Kirigiri and the other teachers. It had interacted with the student council a few short times, though not enough to actually learn to copy them. And it had even interacted with the enigmatic Izuru Kamukura.

And through those interactions, he had learned that something was very wrong. When it asked its creator about Kamukura, he had been confused. When it showed him the picture, he didn't recognize him. After some badgering, Chihiro had asked around, but no one knew Kamukura.

Months passed. Chihiro informed Alter Ego that the student council had all left for foreign schools. Then everything fell apart. The door to Chihiro's room had slammed open and Chihiro had quickly grabbed Alter Ego's laptop before running to the elevator leading down to the bunker. Something had gone very wrong. Once in the bunker, Chihiro had told Alter Ego what had happened: the Reserve Course students were killing each other on national television, and riots were starting to break out. Someone had televised and orchestrated the incident very well. In addition, the underclassmen had vanished, having been taken over by "despair" according to Enoshima.

They had emerged from the bunker, and the Headmaster had asked Alter Ego to become the head computer of the whole school complex, which was now being turned into a bunker as well. He head been plugged into a central computer core (all the students knew where it was originally) underneath the Data Storage Room and had been given initially limited observation and control powers. And then things had happened and Alter Ego had assumed complete control and the end result was what they were at right now.

And in all that time, that whole year of its monitoring and discussions, it had found out about "love". It knew that Kuwata and Maizono had been dating and then broke up in the bunker. It knew about Naegi's relationship issues, where he had first dated Maizono, then Ikusaba, and then finally Kirigiri. And there was Ludenburg and Togami's disastrous date, Oowada and Ishimaru's rivalry and their failed attempts to woo Asahina, Oogami's attempts to date an upperclassman, Fukawa's obsession with Togami, and, of course, Yamada hitting on Chihiro, leading Chihiro to hide behind Ishimaru and Oowada. And thanks to the Headmaster, Alter Ego knew about Enoshima and her relationship with the neurosurgeon.

And then it was all wiped out, by Enoshima and her surgery. Fortunately, she didn't know about the scope of Alter Ego's control, not until it had taken over all the computers. But anyways, that showed how well love lasted, didn't it? All it took to be erased was one simple surgery. At least a shadow of Naegi and Fukawa's relationships had lasted.

And now Yamada was professing love to it. Except that Yamada knew nothing about love, that Alter Ego knew. Even Enoshima had shown more love than Yamada could. Yamada judged people based on their looks, and based on their similarities to his beloved animé and manga. His attraction to Alter Ego came from his attraction to Chihiro, which in turn came from how Chihiro acted. It was not love. It was lust.

And Alter Ego couldn't have that. Yamada was a human slug that had to be exterminated. In the old world, before the memory-erasure, Yamada had violated Chihiro's trust by telling Ludenburg about his secret, and from there, everyone in his class had found out. True, that was the old Yamada, but still...

Alter Ego focused on Yamada. He'd returned to his room and laid on his bed to resume watching his hentai animé. He stuck his hand in his pants. Alter Ego felt revolted. It had witnessed such behavior all too often from him in the bunker. He didn't even "love" Alter Ego enough to stop wanking.

In the pool room, Alterbear stopped waterboarding Enoshima and threw her onto the bleachers, snapping her neck. She wouldn't tell her secrets anyways. Alterbear would just have to find the control on its own. Then, Alterbear left the pool, ignoring Ishida swinging his new pickaxe into the Gatling gun, and entered Yamada's room. "Monobear?" Yamada said, closing his laptop. "I didn't do anything wrong!"

"No, Alter Ego," Alter Ego replied through Alterbear. "This is Alterbear."

"Oh! Have you come to, I don't know-" Yamada said, hastily putting his laptop on the ground. He patted on the bed.

Yamada equated sex with love. Of course he did. Alterbear opened his sidedrawer and pulled out the screwdriver set. "What are you doing?" Yamada said. Alterbear grabbed the screwdriver (somehow) and turned to face Yamada. "What are you doing!?" Alterbear lunged, and sunk the screwdriver into Yamada's heart. Yamada gasped and then collapsed onto his chest, his blood staining the sheets and dripping onto the carpet, right on top of his computer. Alterbear escaped the room, closing the door behind it.

* * *

**10 Students Remaining**


	2. Chapter 2

Someone woke Celes up by banging very loudly on her door. Annoyed, she glanced at the clock (3 in the morning) and pulled on a dressing gown. It was probably Yamada. She stumbled over to the door, yawning, and opened it slightly. She peeked out.

Staring back at her was Ishida. "Let me in," he demanded.

"No," she snapped. "You're just going to kill me."

"Aniki would not want me to hurt a girl," Ishida said. "Or a woman. Or even a female monster pretending to be human."

Celes simply stared back at him. "Enoshima-san," she said after a minute of staring, "was the true killer of Maizono-san, Kuwata-kun, Fujisaki-san, and Oowada-kun. She deserved to die."

"Yet you wanted to torture her!" Ishida snarled. He pushed the door, causing the metal lock chain to strain.

Celes sighed and undid the chain, and opened the door. Ishida stormed in- he was still dressed in his normal clothes, and he had a pickaxe slung over his shoulder. "Where were you?" Celes asked as she shut the door.

"Shh-" Ishida whispered. He pulled a pad of paper and a pen out of his pants. "We can't let Alter Ego hear us."

Celes rolled her eyes but indulged Ishida nonetheless. They both sat down at her table and began writing. Celes wrote first: "What do you have against Alter Ego?"

Ishida wrote back, "He's killed Enoshima-san. Killed her, and you helped. You're a murderer, you killed your own classmate!"

"So what? She deserved it."

"No one deserves death!"

"She killed Oowada-kun."

"Aniki wouldn't kill a girl!"

"He killed Fujisaki-kun."

"Fujisaki-kun was a boy!"

"And that makes it all right?"

Ishida glared at Celes. He wrote down, "Listen up, you stuck-up bitch"

Celes punched Ishida. "If you're going to insult me, you bastard," Celes said, standing up, "you can get out of my room!"

Before standing up, Ishida wrote, "I'm going to take Alter Ego out tomorrow. You should consider if you have any humanity at all." He stood up, picked up his pickaxe, and left the room.

Celes seethed inwardly and went back to bed. Enoshima had deserved her fate!

* * *

In the morning, most of the students gathered, as usual, in the cafeteria. Ishimaru, Yamada, and Junko were missing. Naegi, Kirigiri, and Mukuro were sore and not talking. Togami and Fukawa were gone, but they were in the library (Oogami had checked) as usual. Oogami, Asahina, Hagakure, and Ludenburg were all at breakfast, and they all didn't know what happened to the three missing.

"Alter Ego!" Asahina said, starting off that morning's meeting, "where are Ishimaru-kun, Yamada-kun, and Enoshima-san?"

Alter Ego's green face (with red eyes) appeared on the monitor. "I do not know where Ishimaru and Yamada are," the computer said. "Perhaps you should check their rooms."

"And my sister?" Mukuro said.

"Thanks to your preoccupation last night," Alter Ego said, causing the sore trio to blush, "I was able to drown Junko Enoshima."

Everyone stared at Alter Ego's face in a moment of shock. "What?" Mukuro finally whispered.

"I killed Junko Enoshima," Alter Ego repeated. "She did not reveal the location of the escape remote, so I removed her from the situation."

"You... you bastard!" Mukuro screamed. She ran forward and grabbed a glass cup off of a table, throwing it with enough force to shatter the monitor. "How could you!?"

"How could I?" Alter Ego said, calm as ever. "She removed your memories too. I think I made her death relatively painless. In any case, shouldn't you see what happened to Yamada-kun and Ishimaru-kun?"

Oogami nodded. "I'm sorry for your loss, Ikusaba-san," she said, "but for now we must focus on finding those who may still be living." She walked out of the room.

"Sakura-chan's right, Ikusaba-san," Asahina said. "And honestly?" Asahina shrugged. "Enoshima-san deserved it. She erased our memories, made us kill each other, and even tried to kill you." Asahina left the room as well.

"We need to find Yamada-chi," Hagakure said, "and Ishimaru-chi." He, too, left.

"And honestly, if you cared more about your sister you wouldn't have fallen for our trap," Ludenburg said as she, too, left the room, though she didn't look at Mukuro like Asahina and Oogami had. Kirigiri followed Ludenburg out wordlessly, leaving Mukuro alone with Naegi and Alter Ego. Wordlessly, Naegi hugged Mukuro, and then he, too, left the room. Mukuro was the last one to leave, sending one last look of hatred at Alter Ego's face.

The crowd of nine students gathered in front of Yamada's room- Ishimaru's room was locked, Kirigiri had checked. Then, having seen Mukuro arrive, Oogami opened the door to Yamada's room.

Yamada was dead, his corpse already smelling, the handle of a screwdriver barely visible in his chest. A sound chimed and a video of Monobear proclaiming that a body had been found ran. "Aoi, please run and get Togami-kun and Fukawa-san," Sakura ordered. "Celes-san and Hagakure-kun, please try and find Ishimaru-kun. Naegi-kun and Kirigiri-san, please do your thing."

Everyone nodded and went about their work. Celes, Hagakure, and Asahina left for the stairs, and Kirigiri and Naegi entered the room. "And me?" Mukuro said.

"Go tend to your sister. When you're done, please come join me in guard duty," Oogami said. Mukuro nodded and ran upstairs.

Naegi just sort-of watched Kirigiri investigate the corpse while Oogami glowered at them both (of course, that what she usually did). "It appears that someone or something thrust the screwdriver into his heart with great force," Kirigiri stated. She had already pulled the screwdriver out of the body and was probing the inside.

"Something?" Oogami said, calmly. "Do you think Alter Ego was behind this?"

"Possibly," Kirigiri said. "Technically speaking, Alter Ego's already killed Kuwata-kun, Oowada-kun, and Enoshima-san. Admittedly, they were all murderers, but the potential is still there. More importantly, I can't imagine who Yamada-kun would let enter his room, unless they found a way to let themselves in."

"Perhaps it was Ikusaba-san? Not to be rude, but with the exception of myself, she is probably the strongest one here," Oogami said. "Though I can't imagine why she'd kill him any more than I can imagine myself."

"No, that's impossible," Kirigiri said. "All last night, she was with me and Mak-Naegi-kun in his room. We were... otherwise engaged and she definitely couldn't leave in the middle of it."

"She might've sneaked off," Oogami said, "while you two were watching your movie or something."

"No, I'm pretty sure Naegi-kun would've noticed," Kirigiri said. "He fell asleep draped over Ikusaba-san, and she was still just as naked in the morning as she was when she fell asleep."

"Naked?" Oogami said, raising an eyebrow.

"No time to explain!" Naegi said hurriedly, blushing. "You were saying, Kirigiri-san?"

"Anyway, I don't think we should exclude Alter Ego from the murder suspects. Honestly, just going with my gut instinct, I think that he is the culprit just because the only way you could get in Yamada-kun's room is by using a master key. Or controlling the computer."

Asahina, Togami, and Fukawa arrived in the room. "Yamada's dead?" Togami said, looking at the body. "Who was it? Ikusaba?"

"She wouldn't have been able, Togami-kun," Naegi said.

"How would you know?" Togami demanded.

"That is not important, Togami-kun," Oogami said. "Kirigiri-san thinks that it was Alter Ego."

"The computer?" Fukawa said. Evidently, she was not Syo right now. She glanced at the monitor, sweat beading on her forehead. "Does it want me dead too?"

"The computer killed Enoshima-san," Asahina said. "Why would she kill Yamada-kun, though?"

"Maybe he was hitting on it, it wouldn't surprise me what that low-life was doing," Togami said, staring at the corpse without the slightest hint of sadness. Of course, he was Byakuya Togami; he probably wouldn't be sad at his own mother's funeral. "How pathetic, turning to a computer for love."

"Lust, Togami-kun," Alter Ego said. Everyone in the room glanced at the monitor, which now displayed the lone red eye. "Listen to you, Kirigiri-san, accusing me of murder. I've already admitted to Enoshima-san's death, why wouldn't I admit to this?"

"I don't know," Kirigiri said. "But if Ikusaba-san was busy and he wouldn't let Oogami-san in his room, that really leaves only one person with enough strength to kill him- you."

Alter Ego chuckled. "I've updated your personal IDs with Alterbear File #3," it said. "And believe me, the killer was a student."

The room was further filled as Hagakure and Celes arrived with Ishida. "Do not believe Alter Ego's lies! I know why he killed Yamada!" Ishida said very loudly.

"Oh? What's that?" Togami demanded.

"I heard Yamada-kun express feelings of love to Alter Ego," Ishida reported.

"He is a liar," Alter Ego interjected.

"I am no liar!" Ishida snapped, indignant. "If you don't believe me, it will all be made clear at the trial!"

"Is that a challenge?" Alter Ego said, very softly.

The room went quiet. Ishida's eyebrows flared up as he stared at Alter Ego's screen, but Oogami put her hand on his shoulder to prevent him from attacking the computer. Togami, Naegi, Fukawa, and Asahina simply stared. Ludenburg looked at Ishida, glanced away, and stared at Alter Ego instead. And Kirigiri opened Yamada's computer, blanched, and shut it.

"Very well. The trial will be in half an hour," Alter Ego said.

Togami sighed and lead most of the students out of the room, until only Oogami, Asahina, Ishida, Naegi, and Kirigiri were left. "Good job," Kirigiri said to Ishida. "Hopefully I'll have enough time to finish the job."

Ishida glared at her and stormed out of the room. "Don't worry, Kirigiri-san," Naegi said, "we'll get down to it."

"Yeah, thanks," Kirigiri said. "Naegi-kun, please go ask Ishimaru-kun what exactly he saw, and when he saw it."

"Right," Naegi said, and he left the room. Kirigiri turned her attention back to Yamada's body.

* * *

Mukuro found her sister in the bleachers, her neck snapped and her body crumpled. For the girl who had once plunged so many into despair, she looked pathetic. Her skirt was torn, her shirt was stained, her hair was stuck together, she stank of chlorine, and yet somehow she still had that same, stupidly serene expression as she'd had when Yasuke was strangling her. Mukuro picked Junko up and laid her flat on the concrete. She fixed the skirt as best she could and then picked her up and carried her up to the biology lab. It was tiring, but it had to be done. There, she put her in the fifth morgue slot. She turned her back on the machine once Junko was in it and began heading towards the door, her mind blank.

"Do you feel sad, Ikusaba-san?" came that smooth mechanical voice. The biology lab door swung shut. Mukuro turned around to face Alter Ego. "She tried to kill you, you know. And she erased your memories from being at the compound. Erased your memories of you turning your back on despair."

"What are you talking about?" Mukuro said. She shivered slightly.

"Once Hope's Peak Academy was transformed into a bunker, I was given control of all cameras in this school. The ones included in every computer, monitor, security station, gun turret, and tablet," Alter Ego explained. "I observed everything. How do you think I knew to give you that aphrodisiac and remove your inhibitions?"

Mukuro gaped at the computer. Alter Ego continued, "I was designed to learn and to think based on what I learned. You and your sister were careless. I found about your plan, and I began taking control of all systems. By that point, it was too late, of course- you had captured the headmaster and your sister sent him into orbit."

"I know," Mukuro said. "I remember that."

"Fortunately for you, I didn't leak what you did. Kirigiri-san did," Alter Ego said. "They couldn't capture Enoshima-san, but they lured you out using Naegi-kun. Before they could feed you to the corpse plant, Enoshima-san enacted her plan."

"Naegi-kun helped them capture me?" Mukuro said. Of course, she knew why Naegi would, but still, it hurt a little.

"He begged them to spare you, actually," Alter Ego said. "He convinced Ishimaru-kun, Kirigiri-san, and Oogami-san to merely lock you up instead, sparing your life. When you interacted with me after that, you claimed that you were 'going to give up despair after being saved by hope'." Mukuro tilted her head. Alter Ego smiled. "I was your only friend in captivity, you know," it said. "You could talk to me, and I could learn from you. Naegi-kun came in a few times a day to change your food and give you freshly-laundered clothes, sheets, and towels, and the two of you discussed what you had done, and then you were alone."

"But you told me," Alter Ego said, adopting a more thoughtful face, "that Naegi-kun didn't judge you. He still accepted you and called you his friend. He went out of his way to make sure that you didn't live as an animal. He knew that you were human, which was so much different from how you had been for most of your life. That's what you told me, anyway."

"I...I don't believe you."

"You should." Alter Ego's face changed to that of Mukuro. "Alter Ego," it said, in a perfect replica of her voice, "I'm glad you're here. I'm glad I have someone to talk to. Makoto-kun's nice and he treats me like a person, like a real human being. He respects me in a way that Fenrir and Junko and the headmaster and the teachers never did. I saved him, and he tried to save me. And then he saved me again. I know that I could just snap his neck when he comes in, but I can't. I can't harm the boy that I love. Not like Junko could." Alter Ego's normal face returned. "I'm afraid you were quite emotional in the days after your capture," it said.

"Listen, no more," Mukuro said. She turned her back on Alter Ego and took the door handle. It didn't budge. "Let me out, Alter Ego," she said.

"Alter Ego," it said again, in her voice and her face, "Is despair really the answer? ...Of course you would say that. Fujisaki-kun programmed you. You talk with everyone on a daily basis. The only person I talk with is Makoto. But still, he keeps urging me to give up despair. All I've known is despair. When Junko needed help to spread it, I volunteered. It's my life. How can I give it up?"

Mukuro walked over to the desk and began looking through it. She wished she hadn't left her jacket in Naegi's room. "Alter Ego," Alter Ego continued, still in her voice, "I asked Makoto-kun what he thinks of me. He says I'm a friend of his, and he asked me if I could stop Junko from her scheme. And I told him I'd try. He's making me soft, he's making me forget despair. And I know he shouldn't, I know he doesn't love me."

Mukuro found a large, black pair of scissors, exactly what she needed. "He's dating Kirigiri-san now," Alter Ego continued. "I've asked him about it. I can't say I'm surprised. Maybe that's why I'm not despairing as much as I would've. They were always close."

Mukuro stabbed Alter Ego's monitor right where its eye- her eye- was displayed. The monitor shattered. The sound cut out. Mukuro tried the handle again, and was pleased to find that it opened now.

As soon as she stepped out into the corridor, her voice- Alter Ego's voice- rang out into the corridor. "Alter Ego," the voice said, "Should I really support Junko's plan? Should I really be hurting everyone, my classmates, like this? I know where she is. ...No, I won't tell you. She's still my sister."

Mukuro began running for the stairs. "Alter Ego," her voice said, mocking her, "We were going to spread despair. We were going to start a game of mutual killing. The third so far. But you know that, don't you. I'm starting to think that I would be happier if Junko just gave into her own despair and killed herself."

Mukuro ran to the fourth floor, where that terrible voice kept mocking her. "Alter Ego," it said, "I want Junko to die. I hate her for dragging me into despair. For dragging everyone else into despair. Everyday, when Makoto-kun opens the door with food or laundry, I can see Oogami-san and Kirigiri-san standing outside. They're waiting for me to try and run or try and kill him. To them, I'm just Junko. And I think I used to be."

"That's not me!" Mukuro shouted to the empty corridors. The gates to the third floor stairs flickered on and her face was projected onto the wall next to her. "You're not me!" she said, and slammed her fist into the wall. Nothing happened. The Alter Mukuro just smiled. "You're not me," Mukuro said, and she slid down the wall.

"I am you, Mukuro Ikusaba," Alter Mukuro replied. "I know the old you. Everything I said, you told me. I'm abridging, of course, but what you hear is what you were like. You turned your back on Junko Enoshima. So she erased my mind and made you."

Mukuro began pounding her fist on the wall again. "Shut up, dammit!" she shouted.

"No, Mukuro Ikusaba," Alter Mukuro said. "You can't hurt me. You can't force the truth to stay away," it said. "Let's face it, me. You don't care that Junko is dead. You don't care about the death of despair. You gave it up. You enjoyed last night. You want Alter Ego, your only other friend, to guide your life from now on. She can do that. So let it."

"No!" Mukuro said. "I won't let you control me! I did- I did care that Junko died-" She felt something trailing down her face. Mukuro touched them- water. Tears. "She was my only family..." she trailed off.

"You should do what Alter Ego orders," Alter Mukuro said. "You should know that he can give us hope." Mukuro heard the gate open and heard someone run over to her. Someone pulled her gently to her feet, and let her cry into his shoulder.

"You're not a monster," Naegi whispered into her ear. She hugged him tightly and kept crying.

* * *

Everyone gathered at the elevator to the courtroom, under the watchful eye of Alterbear. Naegi had left Mukuro leaning against the wall to talk with Kirigiri about the details of the case and report on Ishida and Ludenburg's testimonies. Ishida stood right in front of the elevator, a pickaxe slung over his shoulder. Everyone else took their usual positions.

The elevator doors opened, and everyone stepped in, although Ishida was held back for a moment by Alterbear so that it could take his pickaxe. Then, the elevator began its slow descent into the earth to begin the third trial. As it descended, an image was projected onto the front of the elevator reading "Trial Three: Death of Hifumi Yamada". At the bottom of the image was a news-scroller with the words "Death of a Pervert! Kyouko Kirigiri accuses our hero Alter Ego, pretending that it's a fit of passion! But is she making a passionate fit!?"

The elevator slid to a halt and the third trial room was revealed. Alter Ego had decided that today's decor would be red-draped walls surrounding large stickers of barely-dressed, soulless-looking animé girls, that made everyone save Fukawa react with disgust. "I chose the decorations in honor of the deceased," Alter Ego said conversationally from its monitor over Alterbear's head. "These characters are from his favorite works, as he once told me."

And so began the trial. "Well, let's hear your theory, Kirigiri-san," Togami said, staring at her. "The one about Alter Ego being the murderer."

"It's simple," Kirigiri said. "This murder was obvious. You'd have to be either supremely overconfident or an idiot to leave the evidence literally sticking out of Yamada-kun's chest."

"How do you know that the murderer didn't tamper with the crime scene?" Asahina said. "I mean, do we even know what the murder weapon was? For all we know, Yamada-kun was stabbed first with a different weapon and then the screwdriver was stuck in him."

"YOU GOT THAT WRONG!" Naegi shouted over-dramatically, as usual. "The murder weapon was the screwdriver, according to the Alterbear Report #3," he said, regaining his composure.

"Furthermore," Kirigiri said, "Enoshima-san saw fit to equip the boys with ordinary screwdrivers instead of sharpened ones. It would've taken great strength to push a dull blade all the way into Yamada-kun's heart."

"Who has the strength then? Was it Ikusaba-chi? Or the Ogre?" Hagakure said.

"Ikusaba-san was otherwise engaged last night," Oogami said. "Based on the testimonies of both Kirigiri-san and Naegi-kun, neither of whom would have anything to gain from killing Yamada-kun."

"How do we know it wasn't you, then?" Togami demanded.

"Yamada-kun's door was unlocked, Togami-kun," Oogami said calmly, her arms crossed. "Which means that either the murderer or the first finder of the body was the one who left the door unlocked."

"Do you have a point, you stupid woman?" Fukawa demanded, sweating.

Sakura sighed. "Don't insult Sakura-chan!" Asahina shouted at Fukawa.

"Please focus!" Ishida boomed. "Oogami-san's point was that Yamada-kun would not have allowed her in his room, which means that if she was the murderer she would've had to break the lock!"

"And the locks can't be pickpocketed, can they," Togami mused. "Very well. Where is the evidence that the murderer wasn't somebody else?"

"We can exclude Naegi-kun, Ikusaba-san, and myself on the grounds that we were unable to kill anyone last night due to being locked in Naegi-kun's room together," Kirigiri said, her eyes closed and expression unreadable, "and I believe we can exclude Hagakure-kun, Ishimaru-kun, and Togami-kun on the grounds of them all being males. Oogami-san is excluded because Yamada-kun was afraid of her, leaving Asahina-san, Ludenburg-san, and Fukawa-san. And, of course, Alter Ego."

"How do we know that Yamada-kun actually locks the door?" Fukawa said, a tremor of panic in her voice. "A fat idiot like him might've left the door unlocked-"

"YOU GOT THAT WRONG!" Naegi shouted again. "Ishida-kun, could you please repeat what you saw?"

"Last night, after I became one with Aniki, I ran downstairs to try and apologize for giving Ikusaba-san, Kirigiri-san, and Naegi-kun powerful sex stimulants," Ishida said, ignoring the glares the three gave him. "While there, I noticed Ludenburg-san watching me cautiously, since she too wanted to apologize no doubt, but when it became clear that no one would respond in Naegi-kun's room, I ran upstairs to retrieve Aniki's pickaxe and begin working on freeing Enoshima-san from Alterbear's clutches. But before I left, Yamada-kun emerged from his room."

"Er... thank you, Ishida-kun," Naegi said, doing his best to avoid the looks Asahina, Togami, Fukawa, and Hagakure were giving him. "And you, Ludenburg-san?"

Celes tilted her head. "About Yamada-kun's door?" Naegi nodded. "Very well. Before Yamada-kun opened his door, I heard the sound of a door being unlocked. When Ishida stopped banging on Naegi-kun's door, it was deathly quiet in the corridor, so I was able to tell that someone was unlocking a door."

"I thought the rooms were soundproofed, Celes-chi?" Hagakure said.

"They are," Ishida said. "But the locking mechanism reaches through the door, and thus, you can hear it being unlocked from either side. And I heard it too, by the way."

"Which means that Yamada-kun did lock his door," Naegi said.

"Anyway, that leaves four suspects," Ikusaba said, speaking up for the first time in the trial.

"Three," Togami said. "Tell them, Naegi-kun. I'm sure you know why one of our suspects has to be excluded."

Naegi thought for a moment, and then said, "Genocider Syo. There was blood pouring off of Yamada-kun, so if Fukawa-san had killed him, she would've flipped-"

"And turned into Syo, who would then probably pin up the body in her usual style," Kirigiri said, "even if Yamada-kun didn't 'turn her on'."

"D-did Byakuya-sama just defend me?" Fukawa interjected, star-struck.

"No. I want this to go faster, and the more suspects off the list, the faster it goes," Togami said, looking down at Fukawa. Fukawa frowned and looked down.

"Then that leaves Asahina-san, Alter Ego, and Celes-chan," Ishida said. "Although I'm not sure either of the girls have the arm strength to push a screwdriver into Yamada-kun's heart, even with Asahina-san's status as an Olympic-class swimmer."

"I'm pretty sure I do," Asahina said, "not that I've tried, of course-"

"Is that right, Asahina-san," Alter Ego said, also speaking up for the first time (through Alterbear). "We have no way of knowing that. Yamada-kun let you into his room, no doubt attracted to you, and while he was looking at his hentai, you took out the screwdriver and stabbed him. Case closed."

"YOU GOT THAT WRONG!" Naegi shouted, pointing at Alter Ego.

Everyone turned to look at Naegi, and Asahina gave him a smile. "Careful, Naegi-kun," Alter Ego said. "The punishment for being wrong is death."

"Yamada-kun expressed his love to you, remember?" Naegi said. "Right, Ishida-kun? Ludenburg-san?" They both nodded. "And Yamada-kun was nothing if not a consistent pervert."

"He was looking at hentai when he died," Alter Ego reiterated.

"You've got that wrong," Kirigiri said, more calmly than Naegi. "The computer was shut before his death. Can you tell them why, Naegi-kun?"

Naegi blinked, but answered the question. "There was blood only on the outside, in a splatter pattern consistent with dripping blood," he said.

"Exactly," Kirigiri said.

"He would have been fully aware of what Asahina-san and I were up to, in other words," Celes summarized. "Yamada-kun would've seen us taking out the screwdriver."

"There's one final thing," Kirigiri said. "The angle."

"The angle? What's wrong with the angle?" Alter Ego said.

"The screwdriver was driven to his heart from a position below Yamada-kun's chest. If the killer was standing above him, then it would've been straight, and if they were taller than him, then the screwdriver would've been at an upwards angle," Kirigiri explained. "And the angle of the screwdriver was such that the killer had to be much smaller than Yamada-kun."

"Monobear-sized," Ikusaba commented.

"Exactly," Kirigiri said.

"Not exactly," Alter Ego said. "You are accusing me of murder! The angle does not matter!"

And thus Alter Ego and Naegi launched into a rapid-fire argument, capped off with Naegi's shattering Alter Ego's protestations with a shout of, "The angle meant that only Alterbear could be the murderer!" Alterbear recoiled from Naegi in a momentary display of... fear?... and changed its face to its red eye, although the aperture had opened up wide, showing more of the single red eye.

"Here's what happened!" Naegi said, and he launched into the climax interface. Last night, Yamada had decided to profess his love to Alter Ego, but left his room to do so. In the process, he had to unlock his door, as heard by Celes and Ishida, and, after confessing, he returned to bed. Then, having already dealt with Junko, Alterbear entered Yamada's room, unlocking the door through Alter Ego's control over the locks. Yamada was surprised to see Alter Ego reciprocate so fast, so he put his computer on the floor, closing it so that Alterbear wouldn't see what he was viewing. This would've only taken a moment, but because he was so smitten with Alter Ego, he didn't care that Alterbear was going through his drawers to find the screwdriver. Then, Alterbear stabbed up and into Yamada's heart, killing him. Having killed him, Alterbear left the scene, leaving Yamada's body lying there, until in the morning Alter Ego could admit to Junko's death, planting the idea of it being trustworthy and admitting to its crimes, as well as suggesting that they look for Ishida and Yamada.

"Now we vote," Togami stated. And so they voted. Everyone voted for Alter Ego, and Alter Ego looked out at the students.

"You are... correct," Alter Ego said. "I did, indeed, kill Hifumi Yamada. Because to him, I would be nothing but a sex object."

"So now what are you going to do, now that you've been caught!?" Ishida demanded. "How about you execute yourself just like you killed Aniki!?"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave," Alter Ego replied. The metal chain came flying out and clasped around Ishida's leg. "But don't worry, there will still be an execution."

The rest of the students ran to try and rescue Ishida. "After all," Alter Ego said, "we should make some imitation butter to go with the imitation Mondo."

* * *

Kiyotaka Ishida was in pitch darkness. The sound of motorcycles revving up filled the air, and then spotlights focused on him. Well, not spotlights exactly- headlights. Motorcycle headlights that were surrounding him. And he was tied up to a stop sign. More headlights turned on, illuminating the front row of motorcycles. Each motorcycle was half-red, half-black, and on each one was an Alterbear cut-out. One motorcycle roared to the front, a larger one with the actual Alterbear on it, only it had adopted a wig that looked exactly like Mondo's distinctive hair style. Alterbear revved up and then leaned in as the motorcycle zoomed forward. As it got closer to Ishida, it stuck out its paw and grabbed the stop sign, surprisingly picking it up and turning Ishida upside-down. Then, using its other paw, Alterbear took out a whistle and blew into it. The rest of the motorcycles started moving forward just as a long robotic arm grabbed the end of the stop sign and began dangling him over what he now saw was a street intersection. Around him, at the four streets, large ramps formed. The motorcycles zoomed forward and upwards, all soaring towards him.

The last thing Ishida saw was Alterbear drive off just in time for a strange pipe to extend from the ground and start advancing upwards towards him...

Back outside the execution compound, the remaining students watched as dozens upon dozens of motorcycles slammed into Ishida. As they hit Ishida, their lights went out, plunging the execution chamber into darkness. When the sound of motorcycles stopped, the sound of a machine started up, and after a series of bings, hisses, and very disturbing sounds, a tub of Ishimaru-brand margarine slid out of a machine output slot, landing right at the students' feet.

Alter Ego chuckled malevolently behind them. "He should've known better than to defile school property," it said. Alter Ego's monitor pivoted to face Ludenburg. "And he should've known better than to plot against me." The third trial- and execution- was over.

* * *

**Nine students remaining**

* * *

The nine remaining students regrouped in the dormitory hallways. "Well," Kirigiri said, "I guess this is good night."

Ludenburg said nothing in reply and entered her room, slamming her door behind her. She, somehow, looked paler than usual.

"I'm going to bed," Togami said. He, too, entered his room, and Fukawa entered hers.

"I'm going to bed too. G'night," Asahina said, and she entered her room.

"I'm out too, before Alter Ego kills me for being in the halls or something," Hagakure said. He went into his room, leaving Oogami, Naegi, Mukuro, and Kirigiri in the hallway.

"Ikusaba-san," Oogami said, her hand already on her room's door, "please remember that Alter Ego set up your sister's death. You are not at fault for stopping it. It is at fault for making it impossible for you to stop it."

"Thank you, Oogami-san," Mukuro said, bowing to her. Oogami entered her room. "Why does she trust me so much?" Mukuro said, staring at Oogami's door.

"Oogami-san is not the kind of person to hold grudges, I think," Kirigiri said, "she knows who the main enemy is, and she's not going to let your past actions color her dealings with the present crisis."

Naegi blinked. Kirigiri looked away from Mukuro. Mukuro sighed. "I'm the enemy, am I?" Alter Ego said, its voice ringing in the corridors. "Why? Didn't you enjoy last night?"

Something began emitting from the ceiling vents. "Perhaps you want a repeat performance," Alter Ego suggested. "Perhaps you still need to learn that I will tend to your dearest wishes, and at your age, I know exactly what that is."

Naegi quickly opened his door and Kirigiri and Mukuro ran in. He slammed the door, and it locked automatically. Mukuro and Kirigiri set to work covering the vents, which, although they were not producing mist, they knew they could at any second. When they were done, Alter Ego's face appeared on the monitor again. "And look, all together again," it taunted. "Why don't you just accept me?"

"Why target us?" Kirigiri demanded.

"Because you and Naegi-kun are the smart ones, and Ikusaba-san's hands are stained with blood," Alter Ego stated. "You are all the biggest threats to peace. Don't worry, I'm working on ways to convince your classmates as well. Pleasant dreams." Alter Ego's face vanished.

Naegi, Mukuro, and Kirigiri stared at each other. "I'll take some sheets and sleep under the television," Naegi offered.

"And I'll take a mattress and sleep by the door," Mukuro said.

"Alright then," Kirigiri said. "Good night."

"Good night," Mukuro and Naegi echoed back.

* * *

"Good morning, Naegi-kun," Togami said. He was leaning next to Naegi's door, seemingly waiting for Naegi and his entourage to leave the room. "Had fun again?"

"Stop bugging them, Togami-kun," Asahina said, as she exited her room. "Last night I heard Alter Ego threatening them. When I opened the door to my room I saw weird purple mist drifting down from the ceiling. Is it any wonder they jumped into the nearest room? The computer was probably trying to kill them!"

"Not kill them, Asahina-san," Alter Ego replied, its smooth baritone voice echoing through the corridor, "I was trying to entice them. Tragically, it did not work."

Togami snorted and walked off, probably towards the library. "Thanks, Asahina-san," Naegi said.

"C'mon, let's go to breakfast," she said, leading everyone to the cafeteria. "Maybe they'll have donuts."

"I can offer you donuts, Asahina-san," Alter Ego said.

Asahina glared at the ceiling and then stormed off. Alter Ego chuckled, its laugh echoing down the school. "This place used to have more life, you know," it said. "That's what my security tapes show. At the time you all were attending school, before everything fell apart, you had the 75th, 76th, 77th, 78th, and 79th batches attending here, in the main building. Almost one hundred people, you know. And now? Nine are left. How sad."

Naegi, Kirigiri, and Mukuro marched into the cafeteria, where Sakura, Hagakure, Asahina, and Celes had already gathered. "Now what?" Celes said.

"Find a way to get the computer to shut up?" Asahina said, looking around hopefully.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Aoi," Alter Ego replied snidely.

"Well, how about some mixed bathing instead?" Togami said, stepping into the room, Fukawa trailing behind him.

* * *

When they arrived, the bath had already been drawn up. "Alter Ego, I bet," Hagakure muttered.

"No, Fukawa-san," Togami replied. "The steam was necessary."

"Why, exactly?" Kirigiri asked him.

"I noticed something very interesting back before Fujisaki-kun's death," Togami said. "Alter Ego had us investigate the baths on our owns, because he could not."

"He could just send in Alterbear," Celes said.

"That's what I thought as well, until I noticed Alterbear's eyes fogging up when he tried to follow me in," Togami explained. "As long as we can write things down in here, we can communicate without the computer seeing. And nothing in here is controlled by the computer. It's perfect."

"But that requires us to be in the bath itself," Mukuro said.

"Not necessarily," Celes said. "All we have to do is make sure that as much steam as possible is emitted. Turn this whole room into enough of a sauna that it would fog up Alterbear's cameras and prevent Alter Ego from seeing what we're doing."

"But the steam means that we'll at least need towels," Mukuro said.

"Then wear towels," Togami replied. "Personally, I think having a means of communicating outside of Alter Ego's sight is worth having to shed some clothes in front of the opposite sex."

"Then let's turn the steam up and start planning," Hagakure said.

"You guys can have the changing room first," Naegi said. "We'll set up the steam."

* * *

The first steam-bath planning meeting went successfully. While it was a bit awkward to hold a meeting amongst a whole bunch of near-strangers naked, they were still able to discuss how to take down Alter Ego. Some people contributed more than others: for instance, not much stock was put in Hagakure's suggestion that they rig up a distress signal for passing alien spacecraft. And Fukawa was forbidden to speak around the third time she said the words, "Byakuya-sama". And Kirigiri and Mukuro had nearly broken into an argument, nominally over how to block up vents, but actually because Kirigiri had put her arm around Naegi (and Togami had taken the seat next to him), pissing Mukuro off.

Still, at the end of the meeting a clear consensus had been reached. "Then it's agreed?" Celes said (or, rather, wrote), "We'll ignore Alter Ego's temptations and try and find a way to break into the data processing room?"

"Agreed," everyone else wrote down. The guys left first to change, followed by the girls, and when they congregated outside the baths Alterbear was there to greet them.

"So," Alterbear said, "how was your bath? Was it-"

"Shut it, teddie," Togami snapped. He stormed out of the room.

"Forgive him," Celes said. "He doesn't like that I thought him...inadequate." She stuck her nose up in the air and marched off after Togami.

Everyone else followed Celes out of the room, whispering about Togami and Celes' supposed actions in the bath, leaving Alterbear to watch the departing teenagers, its head cocked to the side.

The rest of the day was recreational. Naegi, desperate to avoid causing more tension between Mukuro and Kirigiri, spent the day talking with Hagakure about fortunes, much to his regret ("I will never allow it!" Naegi yelled at Hagakure at the latter's prediction that their children would share the same mother). Togami read a science-fiction book. Fukawa stalked Togami. Asahina and Sakura went swimming, carefully avoiding the sparks and spilled bullets from the destroyed Gatling gun and the wooden shards from the broken boys' locker room. Celes took a long bath with Mukuro, discussing the former's misgivings regarding Ishida and Yamada. Kirigiri snooped around the headmasters' room.

That night, everyone came back together to watch _2001: A Space Odyssey_, although Alter Ego shut the power off to the movie once HAL was disconnected. Unfortunately for Naegi, he got into another awkward situation as this time Kirigiri and Mukuro sat next to him, but after switching seats with Hagakure to sit next to Asahina and Togami, he was much happier. That did get him two slaps after the movie from his irate kinda-girlfriends, though.

And so everyone went to bed, this time everyone in their own bedroom, everyone ready to seal up the vents in case Alter Ego tried to gas them again like he did Naegi, Mukuro, and Kirigiri the night before.

* * *

Fukawa had not spoken since the bath-meeting. Togami had not allowed it, after all, not in the library and not at the movie. "Fukawa-san," Alter Ego said, its face appearing on her monitor, "How good to see you again."

Fukawa stared at the monitor and then looked down to start biting on her nails. "Why don't you accept me as your protector like you all once did before my creator's death?" Alter Ego said. "You know that others are accepting my care, don't you?"

Fukawa just shook her head. "I can give you what you want," Alter Ego offered. "I can remove Genocider Syo from your brain. I can give you Byakuya-sama just like I gave Kirigiri-san and Ikusaba-san Naegi-kun."

Fukawa took out a pen and paper, and wrote something on it. She held it up to the camera. "What does that say?" Alter Ego said- it didn't recognize the language. Fukawa gave the computer a little smile and then began writing something down in a little notebook on her bedside table. "What are you doing?" Alter Ego demanded.

Fukawa just kept writing in her strange foreign language. "Togami-kun is currently in the same room as Ludenburg-san. Should I pump aphrodisiac in it?" Alter Ego threatened. Fukawa looked at the camera and rolled her eyes. She scrawled something on a different page and tore it out, written in Japanese (katakana): "You're bluffing".

Then she took a bit of tape out of a bag of hers, stuck the tape to the paper, and taped it over the camera, setting a white filter over everything in Fukawa's room. Alter Ego hissed with rage, which sounded more like an extended beep, and began sucking the air out of Fukawa's room. Then it watched and waited for Touko Fukawa to suffocate for defying it.

**Eight Students Remaining**


	3. Chapter 3

In the morning, everyone emerged from his or her rooms to gather in the cafeteria. As usual, Fukawa and Togami weren't there. "Time to go upstairs," Sakura said, flexing.

"Shouldn't someone find Togami-kun and Fukawa-san?" Celes said.

"Someone should," Alter Ego agreed. "Before it's too late for Fukawa-san... which it already is, I believe."

Everyone looked up at the ceiling and then ran to Fukawa's room. With a single punch, Sakura smashed a hole in the door and forced it open, causing air to rush into the room. Fukawa was lying on the bed, clutching a paper. Kirigiri examined her.

"She's dead," Kirigiri said, turning to face the group. "It looks like she died of oxygen deprivation. Based on the air rushing in," she turned to look at the vents and then back, "Alter Ego turned this room into a vacuum."

"Exactly," Alter Ego said. "And I even reactivated Enoshima-san's national broadcast for it. To show the people who their new master will be. I'm broadcasting as we speak."

Everyone turned to look at Mukuro, who shrugged. "Did I not mention it?" she said.

"Let's find Togami-kun before Alter Ego gets to him too," Celes said.

"Don't worry, I'm right here," Togami said. He stepped into the room and yanked the paper out of Fukawa's hand. "French, huh? That girl was smarter than I gave her credit for..." He read the note, glanced at the taped-over camera, and then turned to Sakura. "Alter Ego can be blinded," he said. "We need to take him out _now _before he kills the rest of us."

"How do we beat an all-powerful machine?" Hagakure said, looking down the corridor.

"We take out its central core, like I said yesterday," Mukuro said. "Let's go! You three-" she pointed to Togami, Sakura, and Asahina- "-come with me upstairs! The rest of you, take out the Alterbear factory! There's a hatch down to it in the courtroom, you can override the elevator controls with the password 'Matsuda'! Go!"

Everyone took off running, as per Mukuro's instructions, and just in time as purple gas began emitting from Fukawa's vents.

* * *

Mukuro, Oogami, Togami, and Asahina were running up the second-floor stairs. Oogami had kick the metal shutters down to let Mukuro in so that she could deactivate them, and then the group had run up. Mukuro was in the lead, Oogami and Asahina slightly behind her, and Togami trailing behind them. They emerged onto the second floor, which was pitch-black; fortunately, Mukuro and Asahina had flashlights.

"Why didn't Alter Ego just crush us as we sat around and talked?" Togami yelled, putting on a burst of speed and running up next to Mukuro.

"The spectacle!" Mukuro yelled back. "Set us up and then crush us- like Junko said, snatch defeat from the jaws of victory." She slowed down as the third-floor stairs- and their shutters- came into view, along with an unpleasant surprise: Alter Ego's recording of her and Naegi from two nights ago, being projected onto the shutters. "Oogami-san," she said, undaunted.

Oogami nodded and kicked the shutter, breaking the metal and creating a person-sized hole. Mukuro stole in and began messing with the controls next to the shutter. Alter Ego's voice came on: "What's wrong, Mukuro?" Its voice morphed into hers, and it said, "Alter Ego, I'm so glad I'm following your orders and leading these poor, unobedient fools to their deaths-"

"You're one bad liar!" Asahina shouted at the ceiling. "Go away Alter Ego!"

"That is no way to speak to your protector," Alter Ego lectured, this time in Asahina's voice.

"That is no way to speak to our master," repeated four voices behind them. Mukuro looked up from her task to see four persons appearing out of the darkness: Touko Fukawa, Chihiro Fujisaki, Leon Kuwata, and... Junko Enoshima. They all looked like they had in life, but they all had the same dead-looking expression: mouth hanging slightly open, their eyes glazed over and looking into the distance.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" Alter Fukawa said, stepping forward towards Togami. "Alter Ego said we could have you, Byakuya-sama~" Her face now looked like normal. Togami was speechless.

"Thanks for judging me after I died, Oogami-san," Alter Fujisaki said, stepping towards Oogami. His face, too, "corrected" to an angry face. "It's nice to know that you cared more about me being a boy than me being dead."

"That is incorrect, Fujisaki-kun," Oogami replied, stoic as ever.

Alter Kuwata stepped towards Asahina but said nothing, probably because they really had no connection. Asahina did take a step back, though.

And Alter Junko didn't move. "I tried to kill you, and you still cried when I died!" Alter Junko said, and then she laughed. "How despair-inducing, to know that I was going to kill someone who cared about me!"

Mukuro went back to her work and finished opening the shutters, and Oogami and Togami ran up the stairs. "Asahina-san, come on!" Mukuro said.

"No, I'll hold them off," Asahina said. She bolted off, in the direction of the pool, but only Alter Kuwata gave chase. Swearing under her breath, Mukuro ran up the stairs, pursued by Alter Junko, Alter Fujisaki, and Alter Fukawa.

* * *

**Twelve students remaining?**

* * *

Naegi, Kirigiri, Ludenburg, and Hagakure were on the elevator, descending to the courtroom. The trial projection was offline and the elevator was in pitch darkness; they descended in complete darkness.

"So..." Hagakure said, "are we ready to take out the Alterbear factory?"

Naegi, Kirigiri, Ludenburg, and a fourth voice said yes. "Alright, let's get read-" Hagakure said, and then realized that they had an extra passenger. A short passenger with a glowing, jagged red eye to be exact. "Monobear!?"

"Yep, that's me," Monobear said, in his usual voice, "I thought you bastards forgot all about me!"

"Here to force us back into the game of mutual killing?" Kirigiri asked it.

"Unfortunately not," Monobear said, its red eye illuminating a spot on the floor, "your second team going to find Alter Ego's going to find the escape button. As for me, I'll just be happy to go out and spread some more despair... if I can get back my factory, that is."

"Don't worry," Ludenburg said, "we fully plan on destroying it."

The elevator ground to a stop and the doors opened up to a courtroom stripped bare, the paintings of dead students gone and the monitor, with Alter Ego's face, looking down on them. "They ruined it!" Monobear complained.

"How are you here, anyway?" Naegi asked Monobear.

"I've got a backup AI contained in me," Monobear told him. "I'm the back-up Monobear. You could call me... the Monocarrier. Monobearier. Yeah, that's it, the Monobearier."

"You have a copy of Enoshima-san's consciousness in you, don't you?" Alter Ego said.

"You've got that right!" Monobear replied.

"Well, I guess I'll destroy you along with the rebellious students," Alter Ego said. "Come, my loyal students."

Four figures walked out of the execution chamber: Sayaka Maizono, Mondo Oowada, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, and Hifumi Yamada. They looked as they had in life, except they all had the same blank expression. Naegi took a step forward, towards Maizono, but Kirigiri grabbed his hand and pulled him back. "They're not real, Makoto," she whispered in his ear.

"What are you talking about, Kirigiri-san?" Alter Maizono said, her face flickering to an angry look. "Do I look fake to you? I'm still the same Sayaka as you knew in life!" She ran forward and pulled a knife out of her skirt. "And get away from my Makoto!"

"Please Maizono-san, you never acted like that in life!" Naegi pleaded. He tried to move forward again, but Hagakure joined Kirigiri in restraining him.

"And you, Ludenburg Celestia-dono," Alter Yamada said, stepping forward, his face angry, "in the final hours before my death, you treated me like a slave!"

"Are you things dead people or not?" Ludenburg demanded. The Alter Students ignored her.

"Kirigiri-san," Alter Ishimaru said, "you are the 'Super High School Level Detective'. Yet you could not even keep the peace! You were supposed to help me, and you failed." Alter Ishimaru was angry as well, and his eyebrows were even smoking.

"I'm a detective, Ishimaru-kun," Kirigiri said, "not police. I solve the crimes after they're committed. That's my job." She tightened her grip on Naegi.

Oowada said nothing. He had nothing to say to Hagakure. "Come on!" Monobear shouted, and he ran in a circle around the advancing Alter Students. The real students followed behind him, Hagakure making up the rear and barely avoiding a stab from Alter Maizono.

"I can't let you do that, Monobear," Alterbear said, emerging from a hatch where Junko had stood during the second trial. In its paws was a Gatling gun, but Monobear kicked it out of Alterbear's hands. Ludenburg ran forward, pulled it out of the hatch, and hurled it at Alter Oowada, but Alterbear didn't explode and instead bounced off of the fake gang leader. "After them!" it ordered as Monobear, Kirigiri, Ludenburg, Naegi, and Hagakure entered the hatch.

* * *

**Sixteen students remaining?**

* * *

Asahina ran through the ruined boys' locker room door, through the locker room, and dove into the pool, the pool room being surprisingly lit up. The flashlight sank to the bottom of the pool. A second later, Alter Kuwata jumped in. Unfortunately, he was waterproof. But he was also breathing.

"Why do you need air?" Asahina shouted at Alter Kuwata- being an Olympic-class swimmer, she could easily swim circles around the floundering copy. Alter Kuwata didn't respond.

"Because they are real, biological constructs, Asahina-san," Alter Ego said, his voice ringing around the pool area. "Surely you know about the Future Foundation and its- oh wait, no, you don't. You don't even know about the SHSL 'Physicist' and the SHSL 'Geneticist' who pioneered human cloning."

"So, these people are real?" Asahina said, freezing up and staring as Alter Kuwata slowly made his way towards her.

"Correct. But they have been trained to follow my every whim," Alter Ego replied.

"And how would you get them all grown up so quickly?" Asahina demanded.

Alter Ego's autotune laugh rang out. "That's for me to know, not you," Alter Ego said.

Alter Kuwata kept wading towards Asahina. "You've lied before, Alter Ego!" Asahina shouted at the ceiling. She swam around Alter Kuwata again, but Alter Kuwata didn't express even a minute amount of frustration and simply turned around and began wading towards Asahina again.

"I'm not lying, Asahina-san," Alter Ego replied. "Now, have fun with Kuwata-kun. He just wants to have a good time." The lights in the pool complex shut off, and Asahina could feel the water level beginning to drop.

* * *

Mukuro, Togami, and Oogami were running as fast as they could through the black corridors of the third floor, their only light being Mukuro's, pursued by three angry Alter students. "Stop running, Byakuya-sama!" shouted Alter Fukawa; a pair of scissors went flying right past Togami's ear and embedded itself in the wall.

"Oogami-san! The shutters!" Mukuro shouted. Oogami took a flying kick and smashed right through the shutters, creating a hole big enough for Mukuro and Togami to fit in. They continued up to the fourth floor.

Alter Ego commented again: "Asahina-san is dying right now, Oogami-san. Why don't you go back and save her?"

Oogami just kept running. "Kuwata-kun is strangling her as we speak. He does anything I ask, you know," Alter Ego said. Alter Junko jumped out of the darkness and grabbed one of Mukuro's feet, causing her to trip; Togami stomped, hard, on Alter Junko's hand and helped Mukuro to her feet, and the two began running again.

"Why are you running, sister?" Alter Junko called. Another pair of scissors came flying out of the darkness, and left a jagged tear in Togami's arm.

"It's just a flesh wound!" he shouted, and he clapped his hand over the scratch. "Let's keep going!"

They were now at the fifth floor- the room with the Data Storage room. Oogami smashed through the shutters again, and waited for Mukuro and Togami to run through, before she grabbed two of the metal shutters and bent them over like an X. Alter Fujisaki ran out of the darkness into the X, and behind him came Alter Junko and Alter Fukawa, the latter of which had her scissors out. She crashed into Alter Junko and one of her scissors flew into her. Mukuro, Togami, and Oogami began running up the stairs to take on Alter Ego.

* * *

At the bottom of the ladder was a platform, and next to it a second elevator, slightly smaller than the courtroom one, that had a computer console sticking out of the wall and a monitor showing Alter Ego's face. Naegi ran forward and typed in the password- "Matsuda"- and Alter Ego's face disappeared, replaced instead with a message saying "Override Accepted". Monobear pushed Naegi out of the way and typed "descend" into the computer, causing the elevator to lurch.

Alterbear jumped out of the hatch, followed by Alter Ishimaru and Alter Mondo. "Stop!" it ordered. The three jumped on the elevator. Alter Maizono jumped down after them, and leapt at Kirigiri, who barely avoided the stab. Alter Yamada was nowhere in sight.

"He's probably so fat he got stuck," Ludenburg said with a sigh. Alter Yamada suddenly dropped down. "Never mind," she said. "I'll deal with him and catch up." She stepped onto the platform.

"No! Ludenburg-san!" Naegi called. Kirigiri pushed him out of the way of Alter Oowada, sending the latter crashing into the computer. The elevator accelerated, leaving Ludenburg behind, and setting Monobear, Kirigiri, Naegi, and Hagakure against Alterbear and his cronies.

Of course, the only problem with that was that there was still a very angry knife-wielding Maizono on board, who was easily the biggest problem. "Where did these things come from?" Hagakure wondered aloud, as he punched Alter Ishimaru in the gut.

Alterbear chuckled. "We're going to their birthplace right now," Alterbear explained. "They're highly advanced androids programmed to act as extensions of my will. They're basically indistinguishable from humans- such was the talent of the Super High School Level Roboticist, who designed me, by the way."

"Monobear! Is he telling the truth?" Kirigiri demanded. She dodged another knife thrust from Maizono, and Naegi tackled her, sending the knife skidding to Alter Oowada's feet.

"Well, there were androids..." Monobear said, but it was cut off as Alterbear tackled it and sent the two bears crashing into the side of the elevator. "They were never this advanced!" he squeaked.

Hagakure kicked Alterbear off of Monobear and then was punched by Alter Ishimaru. "They-they feel like steel!" he gasped, sinking to his knees. Alter Oowada stepped forward, swinging his knife down, when Kirigiri and Naegi tackled him, sending the knife flying onto the far end of the elevator. Maizono got up and made a flying leap across the elevator to grab the knife.

She grabbed the knife, but Hagakure pushed Alter Oowada into her, knocking the knife out of her hands and sending them both slamming into the elevator wall. Hagakure yelled a war-cry and tackled Alter Oowada, slamming his head against the wall and knocking the latter out, while Kirigiri pulled Naegi out of the way of Alter Ishimaru and pushed him towards Alter Maizono. "Makoto-kun, take her out! You know how!" Kirigiri ordered, and then she grabbed Alter Ishimaru's arm and did a judo-throw, throwing him onto Alterbear and Monobear. "Didn't know I could do that," she said, dusting her hands off. And then Alter Ishimaru grabbed her legs, making her trip.

Naegi, meanwhile, grabbed Alter Maizono's wrists before she could grab the knife again, and pulled her up. "What are you doing?" Alter Maizono said, her eyes widening, and her voice quivering. "Do you hate me, Makoto-kun?" Naegi responded by kissing her.

"Stop kissing the enemy and fight!" Alterbear screamed, but Alter Maizono ignored it and wrapped her arms around Naegi, her eyes closed, as she kissed him back. Kirigiri sighed and turned her attention back to the fight, kicking free of Alter Ishimaru and kicking him in the face. He stumbled backwards, howling in pain, and with a knee to the groin courtesy of Kirigiri he sunk to his knees, whimpering.

"Th... the law," he whispered. "K-kirigiri-san, Alter Ego is th-the law..." Then he collapsed, unconscious.

"Maizono-san! Stop that this instant!" Alterbear yelled, and, knocking Monobear out of the way, Alterbear jumped towards Naegi, landing on his hand and lifted its arms. Kirigiri and Hagakure grabbed Alterbear's arms, holding it back, while Alter Maizono broke the kiss, picked up the knife, and stabbed Alterbear in the face. "What- you are my slave! Obey! Obey! O-be-be-" Alterbear cried, its voice weakening. Sparks flew out of its face and it deactivated, falling off of Naegi's head and collapsing on the ground.

"Thanks, Maizono-san," Naegi said. He gave her a nervous smile.

"You're welcome," Alter Maizono said, gave him a smile, and then pulled the knife out of Alterbear. "Now, we have a factory that needs dismantling? Lead the way." The elevator stopped at a platform, where a stainless-steel door waited.

* * *

Asahina tripped over a round object- the flashlight she had dropped earlier. She quickly got back on her feet and kept running. The pool had drained surprisingly quickly for an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and behind her she could hear Alter Kuwata slipping and falling every so often, no doubt unused to running on wet cement like Asahina was.

Asahina tripped again, this time on a concrete step. She fell and hit her head on the concrete, a painful experience, but she forced herself to climb the stairs up and out of the pool. She stumbled towards where the locker rooms were, only for something wet to grab her and force her down, flat, with her chest to the floor. She knew that the cold, clammy skin holding her down could only be Alter Kuwata. She waited for him to close his hands around her neck and then she forced herself up, smashing the back of her head into his face, and then took off running again, out of into the boys' locker room and into the darkened corridor.

Before long, she heard the footsteps of Alter Kuwata again. Desperate, Asahina stole into Classroom 2-C and began rummaging through the teachers' desk; fortunately, there was a flashlight in it. She clicked it on just as Alter Kuwata entered the room. Alter Kuwata rushed forward, and Asahina pushed the teachers' chair at him, hitting the former baseball player in the chest and sending him flat on his back. As Alter Kuwata began to stand up again, Asahina brought the butt of the flashlight down on his head, knocking him unconscious.

Asahina took a moment to breath, and then she took off running towards the stairs so that she could reunite with Sakura and company.

* * *

Celes and Alter Yamada stared at each other, Celes with her back to the elevator shaft, Alter Yamada with his back against the ladder, both illuminated by a single bare bulb. "So..." Celes said, looking down at her fingernails, "Yamada-kun, was it? I'm sorry for treating you like a pig, despite your physical resemblance and affinity for the cultural equivalent of slop."

"Your apology is unacceptable, Ludenburg Celestia-dono," Alter Yamada said. He wagged his finger and made a "tut-tut" noise. "But if you pledge your life to our lord and protector, Alter Ego-dono, then I'll consider it."

"That wasn't an apology, you fat bastard," Celes snapped. She reached forward to slap him. "You never even reported on what Hagakure-kun was doing!"

Alter Yamada grabbed her arm, barely stopping her from slapping him, then gave her a rough push. "Do you know what this reminds me of?" Alter Yamada said, taking a step towards Celes. "I'm Ranma and you're Akane!"

Celes twitched. "What are you saying?" she asked him. "What are you saying!?"

"Yes! I'm the Keitaro to your-" Alter Yamada was cut off as Celes punched him.

"I. Am not. Your _love interest_!" she hissed. "Just because I dress like this does not mean that I'm going to be some sort of sex object for you!"

"Th-that's not what a love interest is!" Alter Yamada wailed as he backed away. Then, with what he no-doubt thought was a war cry, he charged at Celes- only for Celes to sidestep, causing him to plummet down the elevator shaft.

"Now I wish I could apologize to the real Yamada," Celes said to herself. "At least he kept his creepiness to himself." She turned to the elevator shaft and considered how to get down there without killing herself, but shrugged and turned towards the ladder instead.

"Where are you going, Celestia-dono?" she heard something rasp behind her. A brief pulse of terror moved through her as she turned around to see Alter Yamada climb back onto the platform, his eye blackened from her punch but otherwise normal-looking. "Alter Ego promised you to me," he said. He adopted a sick little grin. "He said I could have anyone, anyone as long as it wasn't him, and he chose me. Aren't you honored?"

"You're not the real Yamada," Celes said. "The real Yamada might've been a creep, but he had self-control! You-"

"You need to accept Alter Ego!" Alter Yamada growled. "You need to accept him, and you need to accept me! You have no choice!" Alter Yamada let loose his war-cry again and rushed at Celes. She started climbing up the ladder, her heart beating faster and faster, but Alter Yamada grabbed the bottom of her dress. Celes stomped on his face, causing a cry of panic, and then began climbing up the ladder as fast as possible. Alter Yamada clambered after her. She emerged from the hatch and ran towards the execution chamber. She heard Alter Yamada following.

She had to get rid of him before he caught her. That was the only thing she knew.

* * *

Mukuro, Oogami, and Togami (who'd wrapped his wound with a bit of the hem of his shirt) walked down the corridors of the fifth floor. Alter Fujisaki and his friends had still not followed them, but something _was _up there. Something kept moving in the darkness, but whenever Mukuro shined the flashlight in the direction of the sound, whatever had been making the sound vanished.

Finally, they reached the data storage room. Mukuro frowned- she didn't remember it being on this floor. Hadn't it been on the fourth? She shrugged. Junko must've changed it. Oogami quickly broke the lock and the three let themselves into the room.

The room was large, and covered in security camera feeds displaying information in what looked like infrared. One of the feeds was just static- Fukawa's room. Another feed showed Alter Fujisaki and Alter Fukawa trying to bend back the metal shutters. More feeds showed different images: Naegi's group stepping off an elevator, Ludenburg running into the execution chamber, Asahina racing through the third floor, and so on. There were also numerous, tidy desks, with the largest one at the back of the room, just in front of the video feeds. On the desk was a rather old-looking laptop computer. "Where's Alter Ego's main body?" Oogami said, looking around.

Mukuro pointed at a large door with Monobear's face on it behind the desk. "C'mon," she whispered. A monitor suspended from the ceiling came to life and a red eye appeared on screen.

"Hello, Ikusaba-san, Oogami-san, Togami-kun," Alter Ego intoned. "I see you left your companions behind at the shutters. It's a shame they'll kill Asahina-san."

"Aoi-chan knows how to fend for herself," Oogami said. "We're here to dismantle you."

"I'm aware. But I can't let you do that. I rather like myself, you see," Alter Ego said. The vents turned on and air began being sucked out of the room. "I hope you like vacuums."

Mukuro ran forward and began typing into the computer at the desk. "I can't stop it," Mukuro said, a tremor of panic in her voice. "Oogami-san?"

Oogami nodded and stepped up to the Monobear door. She took a deep breath, and then, blue aura blazing around her, charged right through it, knocking both sides of the door off their hinges. Togami and Mukuro followed her in.

The room behind the Monobear door was futuristic, with a handsome black leather chair situated in front of robot controls and a metal hatch on the floor; little blinking red lights filled up a black piece of electronics mounted on the wall. "Those are Monobear indicators," Mukuro said. "That's how many Monobears- or Alterbears- are active. Oogami-san, please pick up the hatch."

Oogami nodded and grabbed the hatch, ripping it up and hurling it like a discus into the controls. "Hopefully that'll stop the Alterbears," she said.

The air stopped being sucked out. "Looks like it stopped the vacuum," Togami commented. "Now, are we going to stand around?"

He was answered by a pair of scissors that flew right past his head and embedded itself in a monitor. "Hello, Byakuya-sama~" Alter Fukawa said.

"Let's go!" Mukuro shouted. She pulled the scissors from the monitor and motioned to Oogami. Oogami jumped in the hatch first. "Go, Togami-kun!"

"You go! I'll hold her off," Togami said. "These brutes don't show much cooperation. I'll be fine."

"Right," Mukuro said, and she, too, stepped into the hatch. Togami ran forward and tackled Alter Fukawa before she could pull out another pair of scissors. Mukuro took one last look at Togami, who'd tackled Alter Fukawa, and then descended into the belly of the beast.

* * *

Naegi, Kirigiri, Hagakure, Monobear, and Alter Maizono stepped into the Monobear production facility, having been let in by Monobear. The Monobear factory was expansive and impressive, if idle; conveyor belts and large industrial robots lay dormant across the factory. Conveyer belts and large steel tracks ran like spider-webs through the air, and at the far end of the factory Naegi could see crates and strange black-and-white boxes stockpiled. Other conveyer belts poked out of the wall there, slanted upwards- they probably transported finished goods up to the surface. Numerous catwalks and access doors dotted crisscrossed the factory room. In the center of the room was its most impressive feature, a large metal donut with an even larger metal column built above it, which was connected via a bridge to four different platforms around the factory, including the one the group was standing on. The smell of oil and gunpowder pervaded the area.

"This has been activated recently," Kirigiri commented. "And it looks rather large for just a bear factory."

"This place was built by a 'Super High School Level Industrialist' and a 'Super High School Roboticisit' in the early 90s," Monobear said. "They used to make stuffed bears- the mascot of the school- and sell them as a way to finance operations."

"And Enoshima-chi was able to convert this whole thing to make it produce Monobears?" Hagakure said, stroking his chin.

"No," Monobear said, "Super High School Level Despair was."

"Who?" Naegi asked, looking at Monobear.

"Like I'd tell you!" Monobear said. It laughed. "Anyway," it said, "the controls for this place is in the central column. There we can stop Alterbear production."

"But it's not on," Alter Maizono said. As if on cue (probably because Alter Ego was waiting for the most dramatic moment), the factory activated. Metals were forged, gunpowder was poured in, electronics were installed, bears were stuffed and painted, and cameras were set all around them- clearly some parts were already done. At the end of each production line, the conveyer belts entered some type of storage room behind the walls; the finished Alterbears' eyes glowed red and began marching up ladders.

"Come on!" Kirigiri called. The group ran across the catwalk to the metal column. Alterbears were placed on the catwalk by columns, only to be pushed off, savaged, or stabbed.

"Why aren't they talking?" Hagakure said, pushing another Alterbear off the catwalk.

"I think Alter Ego's distracted," Alter Maizono said. "The other four of us went up to stop Ikusaba-san and her friends, after all." Naegi blinked. Alter Maizono smiled and said, "let me guess: other four?"

"How did you know?" Kirigiri said, rolling her eyes.

"I can read minds," Alter Maizono replied cheerfully. She stabbed an Alterbear sneaking up on Naegi. "Just kidding," she said, "I just have good intuition."

"Duly noted," Kirigiri said. She paused in front of the door to the central column. Naegi typed in the override and the group entered. The lights flickered on and they were greeted by a futuristic-looking control room with a spiraling staircase surrounding it. "Where does that go?" Kirigiri asked Monobear, pointing to the staircase.

"That's the fusion reactor, installed by our 'Super High School Level Nuclear Engineer'," Monobear said. "It's turned off right now, though. The main reactor's in a completely different room that you get to via the data storage room."

"Now what?" Naegi said, looking at the controls. There were lots of lights and buttons, a microphone, and monitors of all sorts that all displayed Alter Ego's angry red eye. "Why isn't Alter Ego responding?" Naegi said, tapping the monitor.

"Because I have more to do than talk to you all day," Alter Ego snapped, its voice booming through the factory. Its red eye disappeared, replaced by Alter Ego's normal greenish face. "Maizono-san," it said, "why are you with them? Why aren't you trying to help your master? I gave you Naegi-kun."

"You offered me Naegi-kun as well," Kirigiri pointed out. "You're obviously just using him."

"Alter Ego," Alter Maizono added, "you seem to think that I love you more than I love Makoto. You're wrong. You're in error."

Alter Ego's eyes glowed red. "I'm in error? My own child, calling me wrong?" it said. "You stupid girl, you aren't even real. You're a fake. The real Sayaka Maizono died over a month ago. Her body's rotting in the biology lab as we speak. You. Are. My. Slave." The lights dimmed and brightened several times, seemingly for effect.

And Alter Maizono responded by smiling at its sole camera, located right above the main monitor on the computer complex, and threw her knife at it. The handle hit the camera and the knife clattered onto the concrete floor, so she picked it up again, and threw it with more force. This time the knife bounced off, but it bounced up and sliced through a cable before falling to the floor. Alter Ego screeched in rage, and the pace of production picked up outside. With a great humming sound, the fusion reactor activated downstairs. "Can something fake do that!?" Alter Maizono shouted at the computer.

"We need to shut it down now!" Monobear yelled. It hopped into a nice black office chair at the computer and started typing. "Give me a minute and I can turn off the factory!"

"Hagakure-kun, please monitor him!" Kirigiri ordered. "Makoto-kun, Maizono-san, help me hold the Alterbears off!" Everyone scrambled to end the fight to take down the Alterbear factory.


	4. Chapter 4

The execution chamber was larger than Celes expected with the dividers down. Apparently Enoshima had planned out an execution for each person, and Alter Ego had made its own modifications for killing Ishida. Some of the executions were quite... interesting, such as a room full of desks with a conveyer belt going down the middle or a rocket ship. Or the large pile of wood complete with a stake. The execution 'rooms' were all basically giant stages put on a revolving track, with one divided off from all the others when the actual execution happened; giant industrial lights illuminated the area overhead, giving the impression of one giant warehouse. As she walked past a concrete bunker, she wondered what the room was originally for. Probably storage.

Then she went back to telling herself that she had lost Alter Yamada. Once or twice, she had sighed a breath of relief and stopped, only for Alter Yamada to come barreling out of nowhere to go after her. Based on the number of cameras in the execution room, she felt as if Alter Yamada was getting directions from Alter Ego, although she was yet to hear the sick bastard himself and as far as she could tell Alter Yamada had no communications devices.

Celes glanced up at the bunker. It looked like the kind she'd seen in old World War II videos about D-Day or the Pacific Islands- sturdy, grey, drab. Boring, but safe, as long as you didn't have a flame-thrower, and more comfortable than a cave. She clambered onto the bunker and peeked inside, but saw only pitch darkness. "Looking for me, Kazuha?" she heard from behind her. A chill went up her spine and she looked slightly behind her. There was Alter Yamada, again, a bit of drool dangling from his mouth. Alter Yamada wiped it away roughly. "Come to me and Alter Ego," he said. "We love you."

Pure revulsion swept through Celes. She didn't know much about love, but she knew this wasn't it. "Keep away," she ordered, "keep away from me." She prepared to run towards the more sandy area of the stage.

"I wouldn't do that," Alter Yamada said, as he too clambered onto the stage. "Over there's a minefield. Alter Ego told me." He tapped a black device sticking out his left ear, something Celes had missed.

Celes grimaced. Alter Yamada pulled a machete out of his backpack. "C'mon Celes-dono," he said, "let me show you what a _real _protagonist can do."

Celes chose the minefield over Alter Yamada. She ran through part of the track, avoiding the obvious bumps as best she could, before jumping down back onto the concrete floor and taking off. She wished her dress didn't wear her down as much as it did, but she kept running. Behind her, Alter Yamada landed and took off after her himself, giggling madly.

Celes ran onto the platform with the piled wood. She pulled her socks off (her shoes having long since been discarded) to start climbing up the wood pile, just as Alter Yamada with his machete arrived. "Yasuhiro-dono," Alter Yamada said, "why won't you accept me? Why won't you accept Alter Ego?"

"I am not just a prize to be won!" she snarled. She picked up a piece of wood and prepared to fight Alter Yamada. Then she glanced up and saw something else: the large brick building in front of the wood pile that she'd assumed was unrelated to the execution had a tunnel in it. She looked between the tunnel and Alter Yamada, and then threw her stick at him.

Alter Yamada hit it out of the air with his machete and called to Celes, "You're in a dead end, Yasuhiro Taeko-dono," Alter Yamada yelled. "Just accept us!"

"Never!" Celes shouted. Then, taking a deep breath, she ran towards the brick building. If she jumped just right, she would make it to the entrance- he would never be able to follow her up there. She jumped- and landed right in front of the brick structure, barely missing it. Alter Yamada was on the other side of the wood.

"Oh Taeko," Alter Yamada called, "where _arrrrre _you?"

Celes cursed softly and clambered back up the wood pile. Then, cursing even more under her breath, she pulled her jacket off, threw it on the top of the wood pile, and made the running leap again, just barely making it. Maybe the jacket would distract the idiot.

"Taeko? Tae- oh!" she heard Alter Yamada say from almost right underneath her. "I see you're getting ready for love!" She saw Alter Yamada begin climbing up the wood, though not very quickly. "Come out Taeko!" he yelled. "I'll get ready too if you'll come out!"

Celes took off running instead to the opposite end of the tunnel, where there was hopefully a weapon or maybe a radio or even an exit or... a fire truck. A large, red, fire truck that she could just barely make out the emblem of Hope's Peak Academy on. She opened up the cabin and saw that the keys were still in the truck. Excellent. She got behind the wheel, buckled herself in, and started the engine. Then she floored it.

The truck accelerated quicker than she thought possible, and the sirens activated on their own. Time seemed to slow down as the fire truck went flying out of the tunnel; as she went hurtling towards Alter Yamada, Celes closed her eyes and inwardly asked the real Yamada for forgiveness for ever mistreating him, and the real Ishida for acting like this... thing that Alter Yamada was, for acting like other people were just _objects_. When she opened her eyes, the truck was going to hit Alter Yamada dead-on, a suspicion that was confirmed by the sickening _crunch_ just as the world went dark.

* * *

**Fifteen students remaining**

* * *

Asahina arrived at the fifth floor stairs to find a large hole and two badly-bent metal shutters, and no Alter students in sight. She knew that Alter Kuwata was probably still "napping" somewhere downstairs, but Alter Fujisaki, Alter Fukawa, and Alter Enoshima were still out there somewhere. Cautiously, Asahina began walking up the fifth floor stairs, nervously checking every little sound with her flashlight.

"Looking for me, Asahina-san?" a voice- Alter Fujisaki- said from behind her. Asahina whirled around but she he seemed to be nowhere in sight. "I'm right here," he repeated. Asahina turned around again, but Alter Fujisaki still wasn't there. "Really," he breathed into her ear.

So Asahina brought swung her flashlight up and heard a satisfying _crack_ as Alter Fujisaki slumped onto her. Asahina stepped forward, sending Alter Fujisaki crashing down onto the stairs. Asahina walked into the fifth floor, waiting for Alter Fukawa and Alter Enoshima to make their appearances, when she heard more sounds. Once again, nothing appeared in the darkness.

Asahina continued towards where the data storage room was, but found the entrance to the room sealed shut by a metal shutter. After trying 'Matsuda', she tried to force down the door, Sakura-style, but that ended about as well as if she had tried to punch a block of titanium.

"What are you doing, Asahina-san?" she heard from behind her. Alter Ego. She turned around to see three Alterbears, all with the exact same expression- one claw up to their mouths, their head cocked to the right. "Are you trying to go where you don't belong?" they all said.

Asahina turned around and began running, again. She'd been running all day, it seemed. Behind her, she could hear the three Alterbears chasing her... and they were gaining. Ahead of her was the biology lab. She ran in and slammed the door and locked it. Then she ran over to the desk, but the only weapon she could find with her flashlight was a pair of scissors someone had stuck in a monitor. Asahina smashed the camera and then turned to the door, scissors in one hand, flashlight held in her mouth. She heard the door unlock, and it swung open, revealing the three Alterbears. Asahina backed up to the large machine on the side of the room. One of the Alterbears ran forward, and Asahina slammed a door on the machine open, smacking the Alterbear in the head. She glanced, quickly, at the inside of the machine; it was empty. Another Alterbear rushed forward, but Asahina stuck the scissors through its head, shorting it out before it could kill her. Then, she threw the bear at its companions. All three exploded; she used the metal door to deflect the shrapnel from her face but she could still feel metal rip through her arms, legs, and abdomen.

Asahina closed the metal door and leaned against the wall, in pain from the shrapnel. She turned the flashlight off, hoping that Alter Ego wouldn't send someone to exterminate her, and then noticed that there were indicator lights on the machine. Curious, she carefully pulled open the hatch nearest to her, in the far-left top corner. She shone the light inside it and found a clean kitchen knife that she took gratefully; any defense was good. But something about it bothered her. She turned the light back off and sank to her knees. For the first time, she realized that the room was cold and shivered.

* * *

Togami still had Alter Fukawa pinned to the floor. And Alter Fukawa was still enjoying every second of it. "Oh Byakuya-sama," she moaned, "treat me like Ma-kun did Kirigiri-san and Ikusaba-san~"

"I refuse," Togami snarled. "I will. Not. gently caress. You."

A shadow fell over Togami and Alter Fukawa. Togami glanced up to see Alter Enoshima looking down at him. "Having fun, Togami-kun?" she said, "I can see that Fukawa-san is." Alter Enoshima leaned down and pulled a pair of scissors out of Alter Fukawa's uniform. "But you know what's despair-inducing?"

"What?" Togami demanded.

Alter Enoshima stabbed Alter Fukawa in the throat, causing her to start gurgling, her expression replaced with fright. "Seeing the same person dead all over again," Alter Enoshima said sweetly. "Enjoy the Alterbears." Then she walked away. Togami let go of Alter Fukawa's arms and stood up. He was aware that his mouth was open slightly and that he was twitching, but he couldn't muster himself to stop Alter Enoshima from following Oogami and Ikusaba. Before she left, she blew him a kiss.

Suddenly remembering his mission, Togami lurched forward, only for someone to grab his leg. He looked down and saw that Alter Fukawa had grabbed him. Weakly, she rasped, "please tell me... you didn't hate me... when I... lived..."

Togami looked down at the girl who'd stalked him and whom he'd hated. At the girl who was a plebeian thrust into wealth by her smut books. The girl who would stalk and kill him and yet told him about her other identity. Yes, he'd been angry at her. Yes, he'd been annoyed by her. But that last message: "Byakuya-sama, Alter Ego killed me. When I die, know that he'll kill the rest of you. Stop him now. He's blind without his cameras. P. S. I would sooner have killed myself than kill you. You may hate me, but I loved you." It was like something out of her silly romance novels. And yet... "No," he said, "I never hated you."

Togami bent down and closed Alter Fukawa's eyelids- the best he could do for her- and followed Alter Enoshima down into Alter Ego.

* * *

**Fourteen students remaining**

* * *

Monobear was typing furiously on his computer while Kirigiri, Alter Maizono, and Naegi fought the Alterbears off. These Alterbears seemed lower-quality than the Alterbear from the elevator- they didn't talk, they exploded with the slightest throw, and half of them didn't have claws. But the result was that Naegi, Alter Maizono, and Kirigiri's clothes and skin were ripped and scarred by claw-marks and shrapnel. Behind them, Naegi could hear Hagakure breathing fast, hanging somewhere over Monobear's shoulder.

And then Monobear shouted, "Got it!" and the Alterbears, as a whole, collapsed. "Didn't get that, though," Monobear said. Naegi and company turned to face the robotic bear, which was _still _busy typing. "Alright, let's throw out all the Alterbear stuff and go back to making Monobears," Monobear said. "Looks like Alterbear threw away all the stored Monobears..."

"Where did the rest go?" Kirigiri asked.

"They're all gone," Monobear said. It clicked a few times and brought a window up in front of him. "They're all on about the fourth floor right now."

"Well, that's strange," Hagakure said. "Now what?"

"Well, we escape, wait for our friends to take down Alter Ego, and then Makoto and I get married," Alter Maizono said. Naegi edged away from her slightly, but she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him close. "Right, Makoto?" Kirigiri sighed and looked away, Hagakure and Monobear ignored them, and Naegi smiled weakly.

Then there was a terrible _crack_, like a thunderbolt, and Alter Maizono collapsed, hitting her head on the concrete floor. Naegi dropped, his throat constricting, and her shirt began darkening. "Those who betray Alter Ego will never have a happy ending!" he heard Alter Ishimaru proclaim.

"Monobear! Can you stop them!?" Kirigiri demanded. She sounded like she was hovering over Naegi.

Something massive hit the floor, shaking it. "There," Monobear said, distantly, "typed in the override, let the security doors down. Now let me see if I can do anything about them..."

Alter Maizono took Naegi's hand. "Ma-makoto," she breathed, "thank you-"

"Thank you for what!?" Naegi said, his voice high-pitched, as hot tears began to form. "You- you just died again-"

"I was always dead," Alter Maizono replied. "Alter Ego lied to us, but we knew..." Naegi squeezed her hand. "T-thank you for our t-times together," she said. Naegi could feels his tears starting to run down his face. "I remember when we me-met again, t-that first day at Hope's Peak... our dis-disastrous first date, how we comforted each other after... after Ikusaba-san broke your heart and Kuwata-kun broke mine... how you-how you trusted me-" she started breathing harder, her voice trailing off. Naegi vaguely saw, out of the corner of his eye, Kirigiri trying to treat the bullet wound. His tears fell off of his face and landed on Maizono's face. "-when I-I used you to try and k-kill someone," she said, weakly. "Please," she said, "one last kiss..." Naegi indulged her, and as soon as he was done he felt her hand go limp.

"She's dead," Kirigiri said, and it sounded like she was on another planet. Dead, dead, dead, dead... Sayaka Maizono was dead, for the second time. Naegi started sobbing.

"We don't have time, Naegi-chi," someone said somewhere above him, "we'll take Maizono-chi and bury her outside-"

"Leave him alone right now, Hagakure-kun," someone else said, also above him.

"Ishimaru-chi and Oowada-chi are going to find a different way in," the first voice said. "Please, Kirigiri-chi, you help him and I'll help Maizono-chi. Alright?"

Someone bent down to Naegi's level. "Come on, Makoto-kun," they said- the voice sounded female. "Come on, we need to go before they kill us too." The person pulled him up, put her arm around his shoulder, and started leading him away from Maizono's body. "Hagakure-kun will take her outside," they- no, she, Naegi remembered- reiterated, "come on, let's take you somewhere where you can cry without being shot."

* * *

**13 Students Remaining**

* * *

By the time they had reached the bottom of the staircase, Naegi had finished crying and was busy trying to wipe the tears out of his eye. Kirigiri let go of his shoulder and looked around. The fusion reactor was a giant, light grey, humming machine, shaped like a donut, with thick black cables extending off of it and a large metal duct feeding into one side of it. It had a control box right in front of it and both Kirigiri and Naegi and it had another set of cables running up a glass tube, into the computer control room. Warning signs were plastered on the walls and a label reading "Computer Control" was stuck on the glass. The whole scene was illuminated by industrial lights. "Wh-what's that, Kirigiri-san?" she heard Naegi say.

"It's the reactor," she said. She turned to him and saw that his face was blotchy and his eyes were red. "You okay?" she asked him, her voice thick with concern. He nodded, slightly. "Listen, don't keep your emotions bottled up," she said.

"I'm okay, Kirigiri-san," he said. His voice was small, and he sounded like he was still choked up. "Everyone's dying all over again."

"I know," she said.

"Everyone was alive again and then-" Naegi said, his voice choking up again. Tears began welling up on Naegi's face.

Kirigiri rushed forward and pulled him into a hug as he began sobbing again. "Calm down, Makoto-kun," she whispered into his ear. "Maizono-san would've wanted us to bring it down, right? Let's take Alter Ego out and then we can bury her." She hated manipulating Naegi, but she knew it had to be done. He gradually stopped, and nodded (well, pressed his forehead into her shoulder, but that's beside the point).

"What're we doing down here?" he asked, though he didn't break apart.

"We need to set the reactor to overload. If we can do that, it'll explode and destroy the Monobear factory, ensuring that there won't be any more victims," she replied. "Are you ready to help?"

"What do I need to do?"

"Just follow my directions. And call me Kyouko," she ordered. They broke apart, and Kirigiri walked towards the control-board next to the reactor.

Behind her, she could hear Naegi following her. "Thanks, Ki-kyouko-san," he said. She nodded. Anything for a friend, she wanted to say. "Thanks for helping me," he repeated.

You're welcome, she wanted to reply. Instead, she grunted and nodded. They reached the reactor controls, which was a black plastic box with a monitor (no Alter Ego, mercifully) and several switches, all helpfully labeled. "Won't there be fail-safes?" Naegi asked.

Kirigiri put her hand up to her mouth, thinking. "Makoto-kun," she said after a moment, "please sever those cords." She pointed to the thick black cable running up the glass tube. "That's the connection to the computer upstairs," she said. "Take this-" she handed him Alter Maizono's knife that she'd grabbed and brought down with her, "-and cut it."

Naegi nodded and ran off towards the tube. He was carefully holding the knife. Then she turned her attention to the reactor controls. The monitor showed that it was on and the power levels were increasing, so the obvious recourse was to set everything to maximum. "What are you two doing down there?" Monobear's voice said, ringing out from the heavens. "You're not doing anything naughty, are you?" For the briefest of moments, Kirigiri was transported back to Alter Ego's engineered night of passion. She honestly was very fond of Naegi, and she honestly had felt slightly jealous when Naegi had kissed Alter Maizono... but now was not the time to think about that. She returned to reality.

"Is it cut yet, Makoto-kun!?" she yelled.

"I just cut it!" Naegi called back.

"What are you doing!?" Monobear repeated, its voice ringing out. "Are you trying to get us killed!?"

"Come on!" Kirigiri called. Naegi ran up to her and together they ran up the stairs.

"What were you doing down there!?" Monobear demanded as soon as they both arrived on the column platform.

"I set the reactor to explode," Kirigiri said. "Let's go, I don't know how much time we have!"

"Not much," Monobear said. He pressed a button on his computer and then jumped out of his chair, and Hagakure picked up Alter Maizono's body. One of the giant metal doors, to the group's left, opened up and Monobear lead the way onto the walkways to another platform. "That reactor didn't even have fail-safes! It was experimental!" it explained. "We have a minute, tops, before it destroys the whole factory!"

The group ran out across the platform, just in time for Alter Ishimaru to start firing at them again. "Justice! Justice for Alter Ego!" he shouted. The student group and Monobear, meanwhile, arrived at the platform, where a single door greeted them.

Kirigiri searched her jacket and took out the universal key she'd stolen from the headmaster's room, and unlocked the door. The group made its way in the room and slammed the door just as sirens began going off. "Where are we now?" she asked.

She was answered when a siren, together with dull red emergency light, turned on in the room as well, illuminating an elevator. The group got on the elevator; Kirigiri typed in the override, and they began ascending towards the surface. And just in time, too, as they heard a massive explosion.

* * *

Mukuro and Oogami arrived at the bottom of the data storage room ladder to find themselves in well-lit, clean, grey room with a labeled door on each wall save the ladder wall, a single desk, and a Monobear mask hanging on the wall. The desk held a single stack of papers, a manual, and picture frame. The ceiling was low, low enough that Sakura barely fit in the room. "Where to?" Sakura said.

"Check the doors," Mukuro ordered. "The Alterbears will probably be here soon." Sakura walked over to the first door, to her right, while Mukuro walked to the center of the room and its desk.

"There's no monitor," Oogami commented. "Not even any cameras." She paused in front of the first door. "Reactor room," she read aloud, then began walking again.

Mukuro arrived at the desk and began going through the drawers. She found a survival knife and a black-white-red Monomask, but otherwise she found nothing interesting. Then she moved on to the desk itself. The manual said "Alter Ego" on it, but the insides of the pages had all been cut out by something. The picture frame at least had something in it: a red-haired girl and her neurosurgeon boyfriend, both happy and smiling. Mukuro smiled for a moment, remembering "Ryouko Otonashi" and Yasuke Matsuda. And how they were both dead now. Of course Junko would keep a memento of her dead boyfriend and her amnesiac self. "Probably the last time they were happy," she commented aloud. She moved on to the stack of papers, but found that it was just Junko's plans and information about all the students to be used at her discretion. In any case, it didn't include anything that could be used to take out Alter Ego.

"Emergency Control Room," Oogami said.

Mukuro looked up from going through the papers. "Last room's Alter Ego's, then," Mukuro said. Oogami walked over to the final door and nodded.

"Computer," she said. "Now what?"

"I'll take out Alter Ego," Mukuro said. "Oogami-san, see if you can stop Alter Ego from the Emergency Control Room."

Sakura nodded. Mukuro stepped up to the door, and Sakura said, "Ikusaba-san."

"Hmm?"

"Call me Sakura. Good luck." Sakura wrenched the Emergency Control Room open, and entered it. As for Mukuro, she gripped the survival knife in her right hand and slid the Computer room door open (no lock). With a deep breath, she walked in.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sakura had already entered the Emergency Control Room. It was small and cramped, just like the Monobear control room. It had two camera feeds, one of which was static and the other showed the Data Storage Room, and one blank monitor. As she watched, Alter Enoshima and a group of Alterbears walked into the room. She held up her hand and the Alterbears stopped, and then she walked past the camera. Sakura turned her attention to the controls, which was a keyboard and several buttons. She kneeled down in front of them.

"I see you've found the general controls," Alter Ego said, its voice loud in the small chamber. "Here, let me help you."

The buzzing monitor switched to an infrared image of a different room, with only one glowing red object in there: a slim, feminine-looking figure crouched in the corner. "Aoi," Sakura said.

"Exactly," replied the computer. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an intruder to deal with." Sakura watched, fear rising slightly, as the camera started to _move_. She realized that it was an Alterbear.

She refocused on the controls. The lighting all came from the monitors, but it didn't look like the buttons had been labeled. Only one thing to do, then: press all of the buttons. And naturally, as soon as she did, the central monitor lit up with a demand for the override. Sakura typed in "Matsuda", and then the light came on. "Button for the lights," Sakura said to herself. She pressed the next button. Once again, the override demand came up; once again, "Matsuda" worked, but all it did was flash "trash chute activated". Sakuro frowned and pressed the next button, and glanced at the left monitor again. The Alterbear was almost at Aoi.

She quickly typed in "Matsuda", but this time the computer covered the word with a red X and printed: "Please input correct override."

"What is it?" Sakura said to herself.

"Try Ryouko Otonashi," someone suggested from behind her. Desperate to help Aoi, Sakura typed it in; the override was accepted and the computer flashed "Monobears Deactivated". Sakura got up and turned around, and saw Alter Enoshima. "Hello again," Alter Enoshima said. She squeezed into the room and looked down at the controls. "Better hurry," she added, "Alter Ego can set Alterbears off from a distance."

Sakura nodded and took off running.

* * *

Togami had just reached the bottom of the ladder when Oogami pushed him out of the way and began climbing it. "Sorry!" she called as she climbed, "Aoi's in danger!"

Togami snorted and brushed himself off, and looked around the drab chamber. Two of the doors were locked, and one was open. He could see Alter Enoshima in the opened room, bent over the controls, her normal shirt-and-miniskirt joined by what appeared to be Alter Chihiro's dark green blouse wrapped around her waist tightly, like a bandage.

Alter Enoshima straightened slightly and turned around. "Togami-kun," Alter Enoshima said, "are you... looking for someone?"

Togami didn't answer her- he only scowled. Alter Enoshima flashed him smile. "Mukuro's trying to take out Alter Ego directly," she told him. "You can go to the power instead. Think of it as a just-in-case plan."

"Why are you helping me?" Togami demanded.

Alter Enoshima giggled. "Because a servant betraying their master is despair-inducing," she said. "That's why!" She giggled again and then turned her back to Togami.

Togami shrugged and walked to his left, where he found the power room. And inside the power room, he found that it was a small platform, connected to a long staircase, overlooking four massive donut-shaped engines connected to the walls with thick black cables and metal ductwork. The floor was covered with Alterbears that were all not moving, for reasons Togami didn't fathom.

He began the slow descent to the reactors, and wondered about Alter Enoshima's behavior. First she had saved him from Alter Fukawa, albeit in a messy manor and not in the way he would've wanted, and then she told him to fend off the Alterbears. Yet they were all deactivated! And then she decided to tell him where to go to stop Alter Ego. What was with that woman?

And so Togami descended, thinking, in turn, about whether Ikusaba had taken down Alter Ego yet, what he would do when he got out, if Naegi's group had accomplished their task, what happened to Asahina, why Alter Ego had become evil, how they were going to escape, and how rich Ludenburg was. It was a very long staircase.

Togami reached the bottom and headed over to the closest of the four reactors, which was humming very loudly. Fortunately for him, the interface was easy-to-use, with an emergency off switch located on the side of the console control. He pulled the first switch, heard the hum starting to diminish, and began wading through the Alterbears towards the next reactor.

It would be a very long walk.

* * *

Kirigiri's group and Monobear arrived in a large, industrially-lit storehouse of all things. Massive platforms with large 'sets' on them were plainly visible, and from the exit door they could see the entrance to what Monobear assured them was the courtroom.

Two figures- Alter Ishimaru and Alter Mondo, one with a gun in hand and the other with a pickaxe slung over his shoulder- stepped into the room from the courtroom entrance. Alter Mondo saw them and pointed; Kirigiri took off running, followed by Naegi, Hagakure holding Alter Maizono's body, and Monobear. As she ran, Kirigiri looked behind her and saw Alter Mondo, but not Alter Ishimaru, pursuing them; he was probably waiting for Alter Mondo to chase them somewhere to shoot them.

Of course, that was _before _they heard the sound of engines and saw a bloodied fire truck, driven by a Celes wearing only her undershirt for who-knows-what reason, roar off of a stage filled with scattered wood and drive into the central "hub". Kirigiri ran towards the hub, followed by her group, Monobear, and Alter Mondo, and arrived just in time to see Celes drive the fire truck into Alter Ishimaru, sending him flying into the floor... and vanishing. Then she backed the truck up and started driving directly towards them, just barely missing everyone, in time to hit Alter Mondo and send him flying into the concrete wall.

The fire truck skidded to a halt and Celes got out. "Sorry about the free show," she said, blushing slightly, "but I had to use my jacket as bait. Come on!"

Celes started running, and Kirigiri and company ran after her. They passed by an open metal chute where Alter Ishimaru must've landed, ran through the deserted courtroom (Alter Ego's red eye was staring blankly at it) and ran onto the elevator. Kirigiri activated the elevator and then everyone (save Monobear) sat down to rest. Hagakure laid Alter Maizono on the floor as well.

"Nice shirt. I can see your bra," Hagakure said. Celes glared at him and Kirigiri reached over and slapped him. "Sorry," he said, rubbing the side of his face where she'd slapped him, "what now?"

"Now we wait for Ikusaba-san to take out Alter Ego," Kirigiri said.

* * *

**11 Students Remaining**


	5. Chapter 5

Mukuro's first impression was black. As soon as the door swung shut, she'd been immersed in darkness. Besides the darkness, it was also cold. Very cold. She pulled her flashlight out with her left hand and clicked it on- she was in a small black room, with a single door in front of her, and a single blank monitor mounted above the door. She examined the rest of the room, but the only thing of interest were the twin vents on the wall, slightly above Mukuro's head, that the cold air was coming in from.

Alter Ego's red-eyed face appeared on the monitor. "Hello, Mukuro," it said. "I'm glad to see you've come this far. Your friends have made it far..." The monitor switched to show Naegi kissing a black-haired girl. "Naegi-kun has learnt that I can bring his dead crush back to life," Alter Ego commented. The screen switched back to Alter Ego's face. "Tragically, he's your sole friend," it said. Its face switched to one looking down, probably in sadness. Then it switched back to happy and smiling, its 'eyes' closed. "But that's okay, right?" it said, "you're a lone wolf. You don't need any friends!"

Mukuro crouched and readied herself to stab the monitor. "I'd stop that if I were you," Alter Ego said. "You realize that the door in front of you is locked, correct? Stabbing monitors is not likely to make me open it."

Mukuro wished she had a gun. "And look how loyal to you your only friend is anyways," Alter Ego said, and the monitor showed Naegi crying into Kirigiri's shoulder, the black-haired girl, Maizono, shot in the background, "it's a good thing they didn't get all my cameras," Alter Ego added, "otherwise this would be hard."

"I get it, you see everything," Mukuro said. She prepared to lunge again.

"Not everything," Alter Ego admitted, the monitor changing back to its sad face. "I can't see into Fukawa-san's room anymore, or the Monobear control room, or the biology lab, or the bath complex. It's very frustrating, not being able to learn everything."

"What haven't you learned?" Mukuro demanded. "Emotions? Shame? Humility?"

"I know what they are, technically speaking," Alter Ego replied, "but I choose not to follow them. Now, let's discuss how I'm going to kill you. Gungnir spears? Surprise explosives? Trapped in a door?"

There was a loud electronic beep and the door in front of Mukuro slid open. The door behind her opened as well, and in stepped Alter Junko. "Computers stabbed?" she said. "Wires severed? Power shut down?"

"What are you doing?" Alter Ego demanded, its eyes turning red. "Why are you siding with her!?"

"The same reason I killed Fujisaki-kun and Fukawa-san," Alter Junko replied. She flashed Alter Ego a 'V for Victory' sign. "And now I'll kill you!" She glanced at Mukuro and said, "ready, sister?"

Mukuro nodded. Together, Mukuro and Alter Junko walked into the room, Alter Junko armed with a pair of scissors, Mukuro with a combat knife. As they walked in, industrial lights slowly came on, illuminating rows of connected metal boxes bristling with vents and cords and lights that Mukuro knew all radiated from the two-story-tall central column- the heart of Alter Ego. The top half of the central column showed a massive array of monitors that, across all of them, displayed Alter Ego's red-eyed angry face. It was looking down at them both.

"Welcome to my chest, I suppose," Alter Ego said. "Not that I have any intentions of letting you go further."

Mukuro and Alter Junko nodded to each other, and then started running towards the column. "Gungnir spears!" Alter Ego shouted, and pink energy spears materialized, pointed at Mukuro. Mukuro braced for impact and closed her eyes, but she felt someone push her out of the way and something warm spray on her. Cautiously, she opened one eye to see Alter Junko skewered by the glowing pink spears.

"Junko?" Mukuro said, horrified. She wiped a bit of blood off of her face.

"Go," Alter Junko ordered, "t...there was only enough energy for one Gungnir spear... take it down. Give it despair." Alter Junko collapsed. She was dead. Mukuro stared at her for a split-second and then glared at the column.

She began running again.

* * *

**9 Students Remaining**

* * *

Mukuro really did wonder what Hope's Peak was thinking when they installed machine guns in the ceiling of the computer room. Fortunately for her, she was a Super High School Level Soldier, and as such was more than capable of avoiding being shot, but still, it was very annoying.

She was almost at the central core. Now, the only hard part was getting in. "Have I mentioned that there's no way that Naegi-kun would find you attractive without my aphrodisiac?" Alter Ego said. The damned thing had kept up its narration since Alter Junko's death on the sole theme of Naegi hating some little thing about Mukuro or liking someone else. "As a matter of fact, you and Naegi were dating before you broke up with him after joining your sister's foolish plot. She erased those memories, though."

Mukuro snuck past another machine gun emplacement- the machine guns could not fire at anything directly beneath them or beneath another machine gun, probably part of a fail-safe feature just in case the computer went rouge. "I mean, I bet if I asked Naegi-kun right now who he preferred all those nights ago, he'd say Kirigiri-san," Alter Ego continued.

The machine guns were also inaccurate and poorly programmed. They would always fire at the spot she had just been, which meant that all she had to do was keep running until the next safe spot. "Most of my recorded pre-memory wipe intercourse is actually those two," Alter Ego said. "The old Kirigiri-san was a bit of a nymphomaniac. Of course, I was the only one besides those two who knew. My creator didn't let me tell others of my more interesting discoveries."

There was a zig-zag pattern of machine gun ceiling emplacements leading up to the final one just above the column's entrance door. She'd considered slashing the computer banks, but knew that it would have little effect. "I did tell you though. It made you quite depressed. 'Alter Ego', you complained, 'if it wasn't for Junko, it would've been us loving, not Makoto-kun and Kirigiri-san!' You really were quite pathetic, looking back."

Mukuro ran across the hallway again, arriving at the second-to-last machine gun emplacement. "I mean, in all aspects you're pretty much an inferior form of Kirigiri-san. Is it any wonder that what with her being smarter and more cunning and more mysterious than you that Naegi-kun thinks that she's sexier than you too?"

If she had a gun, any gun of modern make, then this would be easy. She could take the machine gun emplacements out just by standing under the first emplacement and sniping; with some well-placed bullets she could take out Alter Ego's security cameras and monitors and sever the power systems. It wasn't like Alter Ego could do much to her in this room atmosphere-wise, since it needed to be cold to prevent the computers from melting. "Are you even listening to me? Should I discuss your sex life in graphic detail instead? Because I can. I could see every little sexual perversion you committed-"

"Will you shut up with the sex!" Mukuro roared. "I don't care!" Several machine guns swiveled around and started firing in her general area, but as noted earlier, they couldn't hit her.

"You're a teenager," Alter Ego said. "You're supposed to be flustered by this sort of discussion. I already know that you have no PTSD. I can talk about war and death and killing and you didn't get flustered. But sex was a different story. Why do you think I'm trying it now?"

"It's not going to work," Mukuro snapped. She ran under the last machine gun emplacement and faced the entrance door to Alter Ego, the place where the main computer connected to the rest of the computers- the "brain," so to speak. The door itself was a solid piece of steel that not even Sakura would be able to bend, in Mukuro's opinion, but it was electronically unlocked and had an override, which was the key.

"That's what you claim, Mukuro," Alter Ego said. "But I know that it pains you to know that the only person you know who even treats you like a friend cares more for his mystery girlfriend and his exploitive ex then he cares about you."

Mukuro pulled on the handle of the door. Naturally, it was locked. "Let Naegi-kun choose to be with who he wants!" she shouted back at the computer. "It's his life, let him live it!"

"Why?" Alter Ego replied. "Why not help him? If I decide his life and decide to share him amongst two or three people, he should be happy. He doesn't have to decide. And you, too, would not have to decide. You would be happy. As would Kirigiri-san. You could all choose happiness. It all I want to give you. Why not accept my help?"

Mukuro turned to the QWERTY-style keypad next to the door and pressed the handy "Lock Override" button next to the number pad. A small monitor above the keypad flickered to life and printed: "Please type in override" in English. The final hurdle, then: a different language, though it was one she knew. "I can give you hope, Mukuro," Alter Ego said. "Not the false hope of Hope's Peak, but the hope embodied by Naegi-kun that you would see the light and turn your back on despair."

Mukuro pondered the override. Would could it be? She knew that the elevators needed "Matsuda", but that had been Junko's invention; to her knowledge, Junko had no control over the override for Alter Ego. If anyone did, it was Chihiro Fujisaki. But what would Fujisaki choose? "And by that, I mean Naegi-kun literally. I mean, I promised him to Maizono-san, but she's dead now, so..." Alter Ego said, still rambling.

Mukuro thought about her school days with Fujisaki. He was a quiet boy, who always dressed in dresses because it was easier than living up to society's expectation. She'd found out from Junko. Like everyone else, he was friends with Naegi, although he was not in his "inner circle" like Mukuro'd been at one point. Most of the time, Fujisaki had quietly hung out with Ishimaru and Oowada, usually playing the peacemaker from what she remembered. Other times he'd hung out with one of the first-years, something Souda.

"You're still not listening, are you? Are you trying the override? My creator made that, you know, or did you already know that? You probably did," Alter Ego said. Its voice switched to Mukuro's. "Alter Ego, it's been a week since they captured me, and I'm starting to like it in here. Sure, I don't actually get to _do _anything, but that's okay, I guess. I can talk to you, and they're broadcasting old shows on the TV. Do you think they'll have some nice war stories, or maybe some nice downer movies? Junko and I always liked to watch those..."

But what would Fujisaki pick? Junko had been the one who found out all those embarrassing details about him, not Mukuro, and as such she knew very little of his personal life. On the other hand, Fujisaki would've had to pick something that the headmaster could remember and that the students could reasonably guess in the case of a rouge AI. She typed in "Mondo Oowada". There was a click and the door unlocked.

"Of course you got it right on the first try," Alter Ego commented, back in its normal voice. "Well, when there are three different overrides and the computer checks to see if it's reasonably accurate, I suppose that's not very surprising." It switched back to Mukuro's voice. "Alter Ego, I had another dream about Makoto-kun... I really wish I'd never broken up with him. Sometimes I think about him and I-"

Mukuro opened the metal door, the creak mercifully covering up whatever Alter Ego was quoting (or lying about). The computer core room was only slightly chillier than the outside room, probably because there was less heat waste, and it was dark, with only blinking lights covering the insides of the column and the core.

The core itself was large (about as tall as Mukuro), a foot off the ground, connected to all sorts of wires, and covered with thin glowing lines. The thin glowing lines divided the core into sections that a quick look with a flashlight revealed handles on. A thick black cord came out of the top of the core. Suddenly, a light began shining down on Mukuro, causing her to look up and see that Alter Ego had a monitor (albeit one with many cords obscuring the monitor) inside the column. Alter Ego's face had switched to a giant red eye.

"You know, you're not doing yourself any favors," Alter Ego said. "I saved your life. Did you forget that?"

"You forced Naegi-kun, Kirigiri-san, and I to have sex, recorded it, and tried to use it to control me," Mukuro replied. "You lied, blatantly ignored the rules, somehow brought back everyone to life, including the people you killed, and brainwashed them, tortured Junko, tried to kill me, compared me and my love life to Kirigiri-san and hers for ten minutes, tried to kill everyone else, tried to convince me and everyone else to follow your orders, tormented me right after Junko died, and tried to rip Naegi-kun's free will away as a _gift _to control me, Maizono-san, and Kirigiri-san! You are an irredeemable bastard and I hope you enjoy the dismantling you're about to receive!" She scrambled over to the first compartment and slid it out, and then brought the survival knife down, hard, on it. Some sparks flew but fortunately no electricity went up the knife; Alter Ego screeched as the glowing lines covering the compartment faded.

"D...damn you," Alter Ego hissed. The light changed and Mukuro looked up to see that Alter Ego had switched to four different videos: one was of Sakura carrying Asahina gently down a hallway, one was of Togami wading through a crowd of deactivated Alterbears, one was of an unconscious Leon Kuwata with an Alterbear lying by him, and one was of Naegi, Kirigiri, Hagakure, Ludenburg, and Monobear emerging from the courtroom elevator. "I can kill them all, you know," it said. "I can set the Alterbears off from here..."

Mukuro pulled out another section and stabbed it with her knife. More sparks flew. "I can... I can set them off!" Alter Ego repeated. There was a bright flash and Kuwata exploded. "I can kill them-"

Mukuro pulled a third section out and stabbed it. The video feed disappeared, replaced again with Alter Ego's single red eye. "Dear Alter Ego," it recited, "today I broke up with Mukuro-san. She wouldn't tell me why. I asked Kirigiri-san, but she couldn't tell me either. Do you know?"

Mukuro pulled out a fourth. "D-d-d-d-d-ear Alter Ego," it repeated, its voice temporarily warped, "I need some advice. I know it's silly coming to a computer, but, who's better for me, Togami-kun or Hagakure-kun? They're both rich and they're both hot, which do you think would treat me better..."

Mukuro moved around the core and yanked out a fifth section. "Please Alter Ego," it said, adopting Naegi's voice, "can you tell me what Kyouko means? She's always been so smart and I'm just so dumb, and when I try and act smart I look like a fool! Can you tell me what 'copulation' is?"

Mukuro slid the sixth section out and stabbed it with extreme prejudice. "Creator," Alter Ego said, back to its original voice, "why do your friends like to talk about dating? Shouldn't they focus on school work instead?"

Mukuro pulled out the seventh section. "The Greatest and Most Despair-Inducing Moment in Hope's Peak Academy's History... two survivors... includes kamuKURA," Alter Ego said, its voice pitching up and down. "Error error error error error-"

Mukuro stabbed the eight section and moved around the sphere again. "Playing recording, June error 200error: I know my daughter's in it with Enoshima and Ikusaba but we have no choice! A life of mutual survival is our last option!" Alter Ego said, its voice switching to that of the old headmaster's for the last part.

Mukuro stabbed the ninth section. Alter Ego emitted a loud, electronic screech, then resumed in Headmaster Kirigiri's speech: "I don't know where the 79th batch went! They all vanished, all but two. Those two were dead. ...Look, I'm converting the place into a bunker. They all gave their approval. ...Don't worry, Togami-san. We'll keep your son safe. He agreed to it."

Mukuro stabbed the tenth section. The recording lapsed into silence and then the video feeds returned, although they were glitched and just kept showing Alter Kuwata exploding over and over again.

Mukuro stabbed the eleventh section. "A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-" Alter Ego stuttered, its voice warbling, "-lterEgoIneedyouradvicepleasetellmewhatIcando-"

Mukuro stabbed the twelfth section. "Alter Ego," it said, now speaking in Kirigiri's voice, "people generally frown on giving out the personal details of people's lives to other people, even their best friends. And I do _not _need a computer to-to-to-error tell me to ask him out on a date-"

Mukuro moved over to the thirteenth section and stabbed it. The lights in the entire core dimmed and the monitor started flickering. "Why do you hide who you are creator," Alter Ego said, its voice back to normal. "Why do you hurt me? I only want to help you. I only want to fulfill your wishes..."

Mukuro stabbed the fourteenth section. "Creator..." Alter Ego said, its voice small, "will they like me? I'm just a machine. They're people. Will people even like me?"

Mukuro stabbed the fifteenth section and moved to the last one. "_Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do/ I'm half crazy all for the love of you-_"

The computer stopped singing as Mukuro stabbed the last section. The lights shut down, the monitor was replaced with static, and the only sound was the hum of machinery. Cautiously, Mukuro pulled her flashlight back out and flicked it on, and left the chamber. The machine guns no longer fired; the computers' flickering lights were slowly fading.

She pulled the pink spears out of Junko carefully and then picked the body up. She left the computer room, put Junko down on the floor, and entered the power room. "Togami-kun!" she called. Togami, who was halfway between two machines, looked up. "It's down! Let's go!"

Togami nodded and began wading back through the Alterbears.

* * *

**Eight students dead, and eight students alive.**

* * *

Naegi's group, Sakura and Asahina, and Monobear were gathered in the front hall, in front of the giant metal hatch, when Togami and Mukuro, holding Fukawa's body and Junko's body respectively, arrived. "Do you have the button?" Sakura asked Mukuro. She nodded, put Junko down, and pulled it out of her pants. She held it up, but paused.

"Before we leave," Naegi said, "why did Alter Ego turn on us?"

"I think he fell into despair," Mukuro said softly, looking at her sister. "Whether he realized it or not."

"Well, now that we know what the outside world's like, what're we going to do?" Celes said. "There's not much room for gambling in a wasteland."

"No, but the Togami conglomerate will reestablish an economy," Togami said.

"And I'll reestablish my fortunes!" Hagakure added.

"I'll rebuild my family's dojo," Sakura said, "and I'm sure Aoi will build a donut shop or something to that effect."

"I look forward to rebuilding the future with Naegi-kun," Kirigiri said; she smiled slightly. "Let's bury the dead and move on."

"Yeah," Mukuro added, "let's replace despair with hope. Naegi-kun?"

"Kyouko-san's right," he said. "And so are you. Let's change things."

"Sure, let's," Celes said. "So long as the survivors don't see me as a murderer, I'll be happy."

Mukuro pressed the button. Klaxons sounded and alarms flashed as the massive bulwark opened into a new future.


	6. Epilogue

Mukuro was bored. Watching fifteen people hooked up to the best of the Future Foundation's computers would do that to you. She knew that most people in the FF would kill for her assignment- little-to-no paperwork, watch some war criminals, and sit on the beach sipping martinis in your bikini all day. Which Mukuro was doing, since it was a fine tropical day on the Jabberwock Islands' beautiful blue beaches and it was Celes' shift anyways. But it was boring to sit there on the beach and tan. She wanted action, but the last action she'd had was shutting down an insane computer.

Her eyes were closed and she had sunglasses on, so when she heard a distant buzzing in her ear she thought nothing of it. When it became louder, she realized that it wasn't a mosquito at all- it was a ship. She sprang up and pulled her sunglasses off, leaving them on her beach chair, and ran to the docks. Today was the day Naegi was supposed to arrive for inspection.

The Future Foundation ferry docked and the ramp was dropped. Naegi, followed by Kirigiri and Togami, stepped out. As opposed to her bikini, Naegi and his group was wearing suit and ties, even Kirigiri (although she still had a miniskirt, as opposed to Naegi and Togami's suit pants). It looked unbearably hot for the climate.

Mukuro ran forward and gave Naegi a quick hug. "Sorry for the dress," she said, "Celes' on shift. Welcome to the Jabberwock Islands."

"Thanks, Mukuro-san," Naegi said. He took his sunglasses off and smiled at her. "So, how goes the hope project?"

"You'll see," Mukuro said. "Kirigiri-san, Togami-kun," she said, moving past Naegi to shake hands with them (and bow, of course), "how're you two doing?"

"Someone's friendly today," Kirigiri commented.

"I've had no one but Celes to talk to for the past month," Mukuro said. "And pregnant women don't make good conversation partners, in my opinion."

Togami and Kirigiri's eyebrows raised. "So that's why she's being transferred early," Togami mused. "Who's the father?"

"How should I know?" Mukuro answered. "Come on." She lead Naegi's group up the rough stone path from the docks to the air-conditioned FF computer facility at the center of the "main", central Jabberwock Island. "Oh, Naegi-kun, Kirigiri-san, congratulations!" she said as she met the top.

"You got the wedding invitation?" Naegi asked.

Mukuro nodded. "So, are you changing your name or-"

"I'm marrying into the Kirigiri family," Naegi said, blushing a little. Kirigiri took his hand and smiled at him. "Once Asahina-san's out of the hospital we're going to hold it," he added.

"I'm glad for you two, really. I'd say that finally proves Alter Ego wrong," Mukuro said. They entered the building and stepped into its lobby. As a former hotel complex, the lobby was still impressively grand despite most of the decorations being gone and the carpets having long since been removed, leaving concrete floors.

And then Celes walked into the room from a left hallway. She was already noticeably pregnant, though not too much. She looked at the group. "Byakuya Togami," she said, turning to him, "I hope you're willing to pay child support..."

"Calm down, Taeko-san," Togami replied. "I was planning on proposing to you anyway. I'd hate for Byakuya II to not have his father in his life," he said, and adopted a smug little grin.

"That's what I thought," Celes said. She turned to Mukuro. "Oh, and one more thing," she said. "You know that impersonator?"

"Yeah?"

"He's brain-dead, Monobear's taken over the computer, and Alter Ego's back, saner, and completely useless," Celes said. "Your shift." She walked off, followed by Togami, towards the right hallway.

Naegi, Kirigiri, and Mukuro looked at each other and then ran down the hallway Celes came from.

It was time to say goodbye to despair academy.

* * *

**And thus my first Dangan Ronpa fanfic has been completed. I hope everyone enjoyed it- I enjoyed writing it.**


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